F.E.A.S.T.

What causes a person to develop an eating disorder?

We do not yet know, for sure, what causes eating disorders. Here are some things we do know:

• Eating disorders are not a "disease of choice" - although it may feel that way to the patient
• Eating disorders are inherited illness: 50-80% of the risk is genetic*
• Studies show that people undergoing malnutrition display similar behaviors and thoughts to eating disorder patients **
• Patients often do not feel ill, or have awareness of how sick they are
• Brain chemistry, function, and structure are altered in eating disorder patients
• Paradoxically, eating disorder patients experience a relief from anxiety when restricting, bingeing, and purging
• Certain inborn personality traits seem to pre-dispose patients to eating disorders (perfectionism, difficulty 'set-shifting'
• Eating disorders often occur in people with other mental conditions such as anxiety, depression, and obsessive compulsive symptoms (OCD)
• Research is ongoing into whether anorexia could in some cases be a form of undiagnosed autism
• Full nutrition repairs brain functioning, reducing mental symptoms that drive the disordered thinking and behaviors.

* Data on heritability of anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa.
** Minnesota Semi-Starvation study

• Hope Despite Mortal Risk, full text description of the development of an eating disorder by Dr. Walter Kaye in the American Journal of Psychiatry, December 2009
• Eating Disorders 101, from the UCSD ED Program
• "Why Parents are Not to Blame for Anorexia Nervosa" (audio)
  lecture at University of Melbourne by Dr. Daniel le Grange
• "Do Parents Cause Eating Disorders?" (video)
  interviews of experts by Laura Collins, F.E.A.S.T. Director
• U.S. NIMH on eating disorders (printable brochure)
• "Living on Air"
  BBC Program on the biology of anorexia
• F.E.A.S.T. links to articles and videos
  

Recent news and research:

• October, 2009 A Neural Signature of Anorexia Nervosa in the Ventral Striatal Reward System: "findings are consistent with predictions in animal studies of the pivotal role of the human reward system in anorexia nervosa and thus support theories of starvation dependence in maintenance of the disorder"