Okay. I think I can start off saying that there are no drugs. There is no medication that will cure an eating disorder. There is no medication you can give somebody that will cure or treat their eating disorder.
There are arguably some indications that bulimia nervosa can be effectively treated in the short term with the use of some antidepressant agents. But this is the minority of individuals, and this is generally not considered to be a lasting effect.
The treatment for eating disordered individuals is generally food. So I guess when you ask me what happens clinically, it is that many individuals are treated with a variety of different medications that would broadly be grouped under the classification of antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics. But those medications are prescribed for the treatment of symptoms. For instance I mentioned co-morbidities when I spoke earlier. Many individuals would come into a treatment program with co-morbid depression or depressive symptoms, and the clinician like myself may try to alleviate some of those symptoms using a medication. Similarly I might try to treat core symptoms of an eating disorder, such as maybe the experience of the body, through the use of a medication. So potentially I would try an antipsychotic to see if that would be helpful.
There are very few guidelines about the uses of medications in the treatment of these individuals. Clinically I'd say it's across the board. Some of my colleagues would use a lot of medications. I tend to not practise that way. But the point is that the standard really isn't established and there's no evidence to suggest that the use of these medications is necessary or effective.