Personality functioning in normal weight bulimia

Abstract

This study examined the personality organization and functioning of 57 normal weight bulimic women as assessed by the Rorschach and compared their performance to that of comparable groups of nonpatient and outpatient depressed women. In contrast to nonpatients, the bulimic and depressed groups were similar in their overall level of dysphoric affect, emotional lability and impulsivity, avoidance of affective stimulation, state of emotional overload, relatively poor perceptual accuracy, lower interest in other people, and lack of set coping style. The bulimic group, however, displayed greater egocentricity, narcissism, anger, and negativity and was more underincorporative than the depressed, who were more introspective but also more arbitrary in their perceptions than the bulimics.