A Controlled Family Study of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa

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Abstract
THE PATHOGENESIS of eating disorders (EDs) is poorly understood, although it is well recognized that these conditions are often accompanied by other psychiatric symptoms, in particular depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. These comorbid symptoms are substantially exaggerated by malnutrition and pathological eating behaviors, but in some they antedate weight loss or disordered eating or persist after recovery from disordered eating.1-3 Both the premorbid and continued presence of such symptoms after recovery suggest that they may not simply be sequelae of malnutrition or pathological feeding behavior.