Eating Causes Clinically Significant Distress: Food Addiction as a Disordered Belief in Anorexia Nervosa?

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is characterized by an intense fear of weight gain, dietary restriction resulting in a significant loss compared with what expected, and disturbance body image on psychological basis. Recently, cases AN associated food addiction (FA) were described almost all patients (69%), bringing controversial aspect to the restrictive subtype (AN-r) that, theory, even absence binge eating, would present difficulties regarding control. Objectives: To report case adolescent AN-r FA. Methods: Clinical history, current status, psychiatric diagnosis, scores scales assess FA, craving, eating analyzed. Results: This emphasizes importance new diagnostic tools identify FA whether it exists people beyond distress behavior, cravings, guilt. Eating behavior also presents negative value that delays elaboration process emergence cravings. In addition, analysis association between criteria for substance use disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia Yale Food Addiction Scale statements was discovered. Conclusions: Based characteristics AN, emotional dysregulation seem overlap symptoms.