The most common eating disorders (EDs) according to DSM-5 are anorexia nervosa
(AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED). These disorders have
received increasing attention in psychiatry due to rising prevalence and high morbidity
and mortality. The diagnostic category “anorexia nervosa,” introduced by Ernest-Charles
Lasègue and William Gull in 1873, first appears a century later in a German textbook of
psychiatry, authored by Gerd Huber in 1974. However, disordered eating behavior has
been described and discussed in German psychiatric textbooks throughout the past 200
years. We reviewed content regarding eating disorder diagnoses but also descriptions
of disordered eating behavior in general. As material, we carefully selected eighteen
German-language textbooks of psychiatry across the period 1803–2017. Previously, in
German psychiatry, disordered eating behaviors were seen as symptoms of depressive
disorders, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, or as manifestations of historical diagnoses
no longer used by the majority of psychiatrists such as neurasthenia, hypochondria and
hysteria. Interestingly, 19th and early 20th century psychiatrists like Kraepelin, Bumke,
Hoff, Bleuler, and Jaspers reported symptom clusters such as food refusal and vomiting
under these outdated diagnostic categories, whereas nowadays they are listed as core
criteria for specific eating disorder subtypes. A wide range of medical conditions such as
endocrinopathies, intestinal or brain lesions were also cited as causes of abnormal food
intake and body weight. An additional consideration in the delayed adoption of eating
disorder diagnoses in German psychiatry is that people with EDs are commonly treated
in the specialty discipline of psychosomatic medicine, introduced in Germany afterWorld
War II, rather than in psychiatry. Viewed from today’s perspective, the classification of
disorders associated with disordered eating is continuously evolving. Major depressive
disorder, schizophrenia and physical diseases have been enduringly associated with
abnormal eating behavior and are listed as important differential diagnoses of EDs
in DSM-5. Moreover, there are overlaps regarding the neurobiological basis and
psychological and psychopharmacological therapies applied to all of these disorders.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:84478 |
| Date | 31 March 2023 |
| Creators | Bergner, Lukas, Himmerich, Hubertus, Kirkby, Kenneth C., Steinberg, Holger |
| Publisher | Frontiers Research Foundation |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 1664-0640, 504157 |
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