The most common psychiatric comorbidities associated with eating disorders include mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, in particular OCD and social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorders, sexual dysfunction and self-harm and suicidal ideation. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, eating disorders are serious conditions that can sometimes lead to death. Surveys have shown that 20 million women and 10 million men will have an eating disorder at some point in their lives. Common eating disorders include binge eating disorder (BED), bulimia nervosa (BN), and anorexia nervosa (AN).
Studies have shown that between 50 and 80% of the risk of AN, BN and BED is genetic. Eating disorders have highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses, study finds. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID and SCID II) was administered to 105 hospitalized patients with eating disorders to examine the rates of comorbid psychiatric disorders and the chronological sequence in which these disorders developed. Eighty-six patients, 81.9% of the sample, had Axis I diagnoses in addition to their eating disorder.
Depression, anxiety and substance dependence were the most common comorbid diagnoses. Anorexic restrictors were significantly more likely than bulimics (all subtypes) to develop their eating disorder before other Axis I comorbid conditions. Personality disorders were common among subjects; 69% met criteria for at least one diagnosis of personality disorder. Of the 72 patients with personality disorders, 93% also had Axis I comorbidity.
Patients with at least one personality disorder were significantly more likely to have an affective disorder or substance dependence than those without personality disorder. In addition, patients may avoid seeking treatment because they feel a general sense of embarrassment about their eating habits and do not want to mention these symptoms during visits with their doctors. When considering a possible diagnosis of BED in obese people, physicians should keep in mind that levels of overvaluation of body weight and shape, as well as psychiatric comorbidity rates, are higher in people with BED than in those without BED. Perhaps the biggest obstacles are the failure of physicians to recognize BED as a distinct disorder and the lack of awareness among patients that binge eating is a well-studied abnormal behavior that is amenable to treatment.
Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, are known as the deadliest mental health disorders. They found that 79% of people with BED met the criteria for at least one lifelong comorbid psychiatric disorder. Longitudinal study of the diagnosis of the components of metabolic syndrome in people with binge eating disorder. Doctors have a number of screening instruments available to screen patients for possible eating disorders.
This is problematic because your depression or anxiety could be the underlying problem driving the eating disorder. However, BED may not be diagnosed for many years because patients seeking treatment for psychiatric or somatic disorders are not always asked specifically about their eating behaviors. An examination of the overlap between genetic and environmental risk factors for intentional weight loss and overeating. In a study of women with eating disorders, 94% had a co-occurring mood disorder and 92% had a depressive disorder.
Prevalence, Incidence and Development of Eating Disorders in Finnish Adolescents: A Two-Step 3-Year Follow-up Study. .
