Diabulimia

Diabulimia (a portmanteau of diabetes and bulimia) refers to an eating disorder in which people with Type 1 diabetes deliberately give themselves less insulin than they need, for the purpose of weight loss. Diabulimia is not currently recognized as a formal diagnosis by the medical or psychiatric communities. However, the phrases “disturbed eating behavior” or “disordered eating behavior” (DEB in both cases), or disordered eating (DE) are quite common in medical and psychiatric literature which addresses the condition of patients who have Type 1 diabetes and who also intentionally manipulate insulin doses to control weight along with bulimic behavior.