Eating Disorders

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe and debilitating illness with one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric disorder. The illness course is often long, recovery is slow, and the rates of full recovery are low.

More than two-thirds of patients with eating disorders also have comorbid mood and anxiety disorders. This article considers how a transdiagnostic process called interoception may help to advance our understanding and treatment of eating disorders.

Eating disorders (EDs) are associated with high medical and psychiatric comorbidity, poor quality of life, and high mortality, and mortality from anorexia nervosa (AN) is the highest of all mental disorders. Fortunately, there are a number of evidence-based psychological treatment approaches for EDs.

What is the link between restrictive anorexia, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorder and ASD? This study sheds some light.

The fallout from burnout: alcohol dependence, binge eating, sleep disorders, and general ill health.

Dialectical behavior therapy may be particularly effective in mitigating biologically-driven vulnerabilities, and zonisamide and lamotrigine may play a role.

What does the evidence tell us about the effect of eating disorders on brain function? Take the quiz and learn more.

SSRIs are effective for the treatment of eating disorders, but what treatment is best for which disorder? More in this quiz.

A special collection of current clinical work and issues surrounding eating disorders-specifically comorbidity, prevalence in men, and mortality.

A 20-year-old college sophomore with “depression and anxiety,” who is exercising ferociously and who is literally dying to lose more weight sets the stage.

Eating disorders are still thought of as a “female problem.” But 25% of those with anorexia and 36% of those with bulimia are males.

You must assess the presenting problem and identify the appropriate diagnostic code needed for insurance billing. But diagnosis is complicated. Help here.

Leaders in the field provide specific, effective interventions for these debilitating disorders.

An introduction to our 2-part Special Report on eating disorders, including neurobiology of eating disorders, nutritional needs of patients, clinical response to psychosis, and more.

New insights into neural pathways that play a role in anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.

Eating disorders are second only to substance-abuse disorders in having the highest mental illness mortality rate. How do we assist the patient in moving forward?

What is the clinical response to the occasional presence of psychotic symptoms among patients with eating disorders?

The latest research on DBT for treating psychiatric disorders, such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and depression.

Strategies to decrease the chances that individuals will fall through the cracks in the college years.

The challenges in providing mental health care to the college community are significant. Here's a brief look at the issues.

Eating disorders can frequently be unrecognized or masked behind medical conditions, depression, or the natural changes of aging.

Patients with psychiatric disorders, particularly schizophrenia, anorexia nervosa, and substance use disorders, have reduced life expectancies compared with the general population. This and other facts emphasize the need for the latest clinical information, highlighted in this countdown.

Eating disorders are often complicated by devastating medical problems and may result in death. Although studies suggest a multifactorial cause for the disorder, treatment is a still challenge.

There are a considerable number of aging patients with an eating disorder who have only partial symptom remission or who remain ill for many decades. Here is a case in point.

Why do patients with eating disorders resist treatment? How can the clinician address resistance?

Pica, a condition in which a person is compelled to eat non-food items such as dirt, paper, plaster, cigarette ashes, and other substances, is increasing in prevalence in adults. More in this patient education summary.

Research is now making progress in understanding what happens before and during the illness and how this behavior can be explained.

How are individuals with anorexia nervosa able to ignore signals regarding hunger that otherwise motivate eating, even when they are severely emaciated? Expert insights and online coverage by Psychiatric Times during National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

Deep Brain Stimulation is a neurosurgical procedure initially developed for the management of treatment-refractory movement disorders. More recently, the rationale for the use of DBS in anorexia nervosa derives from several sources.

Notwithstanding sparse treatment data, recent efforts are beginning to provide clinicians with some clear treatment guidelines for medically unstable adolescents with anorexia nervosa.