Do eating disorders and affective disorders share a common etiology? A dissenting opinion

Abstract

Recent observations bringing into relationship the clinical phenomenology, family‐genetic and biologic correlates, course and outcome, and epidemiology of eating disorders and affective disorders are examined. In all areas available evidence points to greater divergence than overlap between these disorders, arguing against the hypothesis that they share a common etiology. On this basis it is concluded that, although depression plays an important part in predisposing to eating disorders, continued attention must be paid to investigating mechanisms of etiology and pathogenesis unique to these conditions.

A controlled family study of anorexia nervosa: Evidence of familial aggregation and lack of shared transmission with affective disorders

“…Other family studies have yielded convergent evidence of markedly elevated rates of major affective disorders in relatives of anorexics as compared to relatives of normal controls, leading some writers to advocate that affective conditions and anorexia nervosa may share a single common familial diathesis (Hudson & Pope, 1988;Strober & Katz, 1987, 1988. Whether or not this familial aggregation of affective disorders is explained by the presence of coexisting depression in a subset of anorexic probands remains uncertain.…”

Mood changes and affective disorder in the bulimic binge—Purge cycle

“…4, 469-474 (1988) of concurrent incidence of depression (Herzog, 1984;Walsh, Roose, Glassman, Gladis, & Sadik, 1985), of family history (Hudson, Laffer, & Pope, 1982), and of neuroendocrine abnormalities (Gwirtsman, Roy-Byrne, Yager, & Gerner, 1983). However, recent reviews of the literature on eating disorders and depression have concluded that although there are important links between these two disorders, there is not sufficient evidence to support the hypothesis of a common etiology (Halmi, 1985;Strober & Katz, 1987;Swift, Andrews & Barklage, 1986). While this controversy remains unsettled, it is clear that negative mood states predominate during binge-purge activity and that these moods correspond directly to the accumulation of abnormal eating behaviors (Johnson-Sabine, Wood, & Wakeling, 1984).…”

Trastorno del comedor compulsivo: Incorporación del concepto en la salud pública chilena

“…Las razones de este sufrimiento psíquico, fundamentalmente subjetivo e inconsciente, se traducen en un estado afectivo de intenso dolor que aparece marcado por sentimientos de frustración y fracaso (24). Estudios revelan que pacientes con trastorno de conducta alimentaria presentan alta prevalencia de depresión (33), y a nivel nacional encontramos el hallazgo de que existen personas con TCC con sintomatología depresiva (16). La prevalencia nacional de síntomas depresivo es 17,2%, siendo mayor en mujeres (25,7%) que en hombres (8,5%) (3).…”