How does a woman experience bulimia nervosa? the link between bulimia nervosa, low self‒esteem and insecure attachment: a phenomenological approach
How does a woman experience bulimia nervosa? the link between bulimia nervosa, low self‒esteem and insecure attachment: a phenomenological approach

Summary/Abstract: This case study aims to explore the link between bulimia nervosa, low self‒esteem and insecure attachment through the experience of a bulimic young woman with symptoms of anxiety, who engaged in three years of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Based on the literature which underlines that eating disorders are usually manifested in people with insecure attachment patterns and low self‒esteem, we used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in order to examine the experience of this woman. The sessions were recorded and were analysed in four different stages. Firstly, we focused on the transcript and studied it in terms of content and use of language, by making initial notes in order to study the way she contextualized her experience and the phrasing she used to describe it. Secondly, we returned to the transcript and extracted emerging themes from the initial notes and the woman’s narrative. In the next stage, our goal was to examine the emerging themes and detect the conceptual similarities and links that we found. We attempted to establish a thematic structure that would allow us to highlight converging ideas. Lastly, once the text has been analysed and studied thoroughly, a final table is produced that summarises the significant themes, as they have arised from our analysis, and they are discussed in relation to existing literature.

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