A clinical study of anti-depressant medications in the treatment of bulimia.

Thirty-six women with normal weight bulimia for whom antidepressant medication treatment was recommended at entry into a University eating disorders clinic were followed up a minimum of one year later. Twenty-seven patients completed an adequate medication trial and 9 did not. Two-thirds had individual psychotherapy, two-thirds had group therapy, and more than a quarter had other therapies concurrently. At follow-up, three-quarters of the patients were very much improved or abstinent for bulimic symptoms. Outcome was not clearly related to completing an adequate medication trial, personality disturbance as measured by the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire or improvement in Beck Depression Inventory scores.