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Major Affective Disorder in Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia

A Descriptive Diagnostic Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Reinhold G. Laessle ,
Susanne Kittl ,
Manfred M. Fichter ,
Hans-Ulrich Wittchen  and
Karl M. Pirke
Reinhold G. Laessle
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Munich
Susanne Kittl
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Munich
Manfred M. Fichter
Affiliation:
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich; Head, Psychosomatic Hospital, Roseneck, Prien/Chiemsee
Hans-Ulrich Wittchen
Affiliation:
Munich
Karl M. Pirke*
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Munich
*
Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr 10, D-8000 Müchen 40, West Germany
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Extract

DSM-III lifetime diagnoses were assessed in 52 patients with a lifetime history of anorexia nervosa or bulimia by means of a standardised diagnostic interview. It was found that 44.2% had a lifetime diagnosis of DSM-III major affective disorder, with abstaining anorectics having a lower rate of depression than those with bulimic symptoms. In the great majority of cases, the on set of affective disorder post-dated the onset of the eating disorder by at least one year. In patients whose eating disorder was in remission, the rate of depressive symptoms was lower than in those in the acute stage of their illness. These findings, combined with recent studies on biological changes in eating disorders, and psychological theories of depression, suggest that in most cases in which the two conditions are associated, the depression is secondary to the eating disorder.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 151 , Issue 6 , December 1987 , pp. 785 - 789
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1987 

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