bulimia

But in her four memoirs, she safely bared all in print, openly confronting her harsh inner critic, her battle with bulimia, and — yes, Alvy — her musings on death.

In addition, eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder often occur alongside addictive eating.

She outlined for the jury a secret struggle with bulimia, saying she had been regularly binge-eating and purging since her teens - something her defence team suggested accounted for her lack of symptoms.

The Department of Health said regional adult eating disorder services were commissioned to treat anorexia, bulimia and atypical presentations of these conditions.

Yesterday, the court heard that Ms Patterson had struggled with bulimia since her teens and was prone to regularly binge eating and vomiting after meals.