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Step 1
Talk to a qualified mental health professional about creating your own screening questionnaire to detect bulimia. She may even be able to provide you with some general literature, questions or statements that you can use. You need to be sure that your questionnaire is actually addressing the same ideas that professionals use to diagnose bulimia and is not listing any myths about the condition.
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Step 2
Develop a questionnaire that asks about the patient's everyday experiences and habits with food. Create general statements like, "I often worry about how each thing I eat will affect the shape of my body." Try to design your questionnaire so that there are only two options for each question or statement.
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Step 3
Give the questionnaire to your children or possibly your students if you are a health teacher. Tell them that they need to answer the questions truthfully because bulimia can lead to serious health problems and can be fatal in untreated cases. Be sure to present the questionnaire in the context of educating them about eating disorders.
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Step 4
Let the students correct their own questionnaires. Especially in a classroom setting, it's important for students to be able to have some privacy. The scores from the screening questionnaire should give each test taker an indication of her risk of developing bulimia.
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Step 5
Use the questionnaire to explain to students how a person with bulimia acts and thinks. Tell them to watch for this behavior in their friends and help get treatment for those who need it.
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Step 6
Act as a resource for students with high scores on the screening questionnaire to detect bulimia. You should be able to refer them to professionals for physical examinations if they already show signs of bulimia and also talk to them about the mental factors and stresses that are leading to the condition.
