Current Perspectives on the Eating Disorders: I. History, Psychological and Biological Aspects

A historical view of the eating disorders is presented and recent progress in classification criteria, epidemiology, biology, psychology, developmental, and analytic theory are reviewed.

Abstract

An ongoing, major effort in psychiatry throughout the 1980s has been the study of anorexia and bulimia. In spite of ample effort on the part of researchers and clinicians, the etiology of these disorders remains elusive. Because of the multiple biological, sociocultural, and psychological forces involved and the early genesis of the disorder, an understanding of the eating disorders is tantamount to an appreciation of the developmental process itself. Part I of this paper presents a historical view of the eating disorders and reviews recent progress in classification criteria, epidemiology, biology, psychology, developmental, and analytic theory. Part II will focus on treatment, outcome, and research priorities.