which, when paired with uncontrollable urges related to negative beliefs, are important in the maintenance of BN and reinforce negative thinking around change and control (Cooper et al. 2009). Compulsions can be severe, intense, reinforce feelings of anxiety and extremely difficult to overcome, despite the damage to the individual's overall health (Robinson 2009). Purdon et al. 2007 highlighted how attempts to suppress or ignore obsessive thoughts and perceived loss of control over intrusive thoughts actually led to an increase in thought frequency, loss of concentration and increased anxiety generalized enough to engulf a person's functioning. Compulsion may serve to allay feelings of anxiety, albeit only temporarily (Green 2009), and impulsivity, in the context of BN, might serve to block unwanted emotions (Brotchie et al. 2007). Impulsivity is a predisposition towards rapid, unplanned reactions to internal or external stimuli with diminished regard to the negative consequences of such reactions (Chamberlain & Sahakian 2007), whereas compulsivity represents a tendency to perform unpleasantly repetitive acts in a habitual or stereotyped manner to prevent perceived negative consequences, leading to functional impairment (Hollander & Cohen 1996). These two constructs may be viewed as diametrically opposed, or alternatively, as similar, in that each implies a dysfunction of impulse control (Stein & Hollander 1995).