Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder and mental health condition. People with bulimia are very anxious about their weight and focused on having the ‘right’ body shape. They also spend a lot of time thinking about food. People with bulimia overeat in a pattern known as ‘binge eating’, meaning they eat a lot of food (or what feels to them like a lot of food) in a short space of time. They then try to avoid digesting the food and gaining weight from it by ‘purging’. There are a number of ways people purge, including making themselves vomit or using laxatives (medication that causes you to poo).