10
Eating Disorders
Clinical textbooks describe a range of eating-related disorders. This chapter
focuses on anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) and examines
their definition and their prevalence. The chapter explores the consequences
of these problems in terms of physical complications ranging from con-
stipation through to cardiac problems and death, and psychological com-
plications such as anxiety and depression. Finally it examines the different
theoretical approaches to understanding their etiology. In particular it
describes a genetic model, a psychoanalytic approach, a cognitive behavioral
approach, a family systems analysis, a sociocultural model, and an approach
which emphasizes significant events.
This chapter covers the following:
- Anorexia nervosa
- What are the consequences of anorexia nervosa?
- Bulimia nervosa
- What are the consequences of bulimia nervosa?
- Causes of eating disorders
Anorexia Nervosa
A disorder involving severe emaciation and amenorrhea (loss of periods)
was first described by Lasegue as “L’anorexie hysterique” in 1873 and by
Gull in 1874 as “Anorexia nervosa,” meaning “nervous loss of appetite.”
These early descriptions placed food avoidance at the core of the problem.
More recent observers of this problem have focused less on the patients’
behavior and more on their psychological disturbance. For example, Crisp
(1967) described a “weight phobia,” and Russell (1970) described a “morbid