Abstract

LEONIDAS, Carolina; CREPALDI, Maria Aparecida  and  SANTOS, Manoel Antônio dos. Bulimia nervosa: a link between emotional aspects and social support network. Psicol. teor. prat. [online]. 2013, vol.15, n.2, pp. 62-75. ISSN 1516-3687.

Social networks are configured by the significant interpersonal relations that people establish in daily situations. There are few studies that investigate how the support network is articulated with the personality in eating disorders. This study aimed to investigate possible relationships between the emotional aspects of a 27 year--old woman with bulimia nervosa, and how her network of social support is configured. The instruments used were semi-structured interview, genogram and network map. It was observed that significant network is small, with members unevenly distributed, with higher concentration in the family, which was characterized as the primary source of support. It was evidenced a relation between aspects of the participant's personality and the impoverishment of the network, that seems to increase the feeling of sadness and loneliness, undermining the network's potential to support and also intensifying feelings of helplessness and inferiority.

Keywords : bulimia nervosa; social support; social networks; mental health; clinical case.

        · abstract in Portuguese | Spanish     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )