A New Genetic Explanation for Anorexia

The eating disorder, long viewed as a psychological condition, appears to have biological predictors that explain why gaining weight is harder for some patients,

 Anorexia may be more complicated than we thought

A genetic study argues for a more nuanced view of the disorder.

 Anorexia more stubborn to treat than previously believed, analysis shows

The notion that our best efforts to advance treatment outcomes over the last four decades have failed to move the needle is cause for grave concern.

 When Anorexics Grow Up

I refuse to call myself fully healed because there is still work to do. Some days it’s easy work, other days it’s work that makes me break down in tears on my husband’s lap. But it’s work that must be done every morning, every evening, at every meal. This is the way I keep healing.

Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels

Eating disorders thrive on secrecy and very few people and celebrities come out and admit they have weight problems, food issues or disorders of any sort.

11 Things You Shouldn't Say to an Anorexia Survivor

One survivor shares several dangerous statements that can do more harm than good.

Anorexia May Be Habit, Not Willpower, Study Finds

The study’s findings may help explain why the eating disorder, which has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, is so stubbornly difficult to treat.

Anorexia: The Most Deadly Mental Illness

More than the stuff of after-school specials or celebrity biopics, anorexia is the most deadly mental illness–more likely to kill its victims than depression, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Yet the disease is barely understood.

Blogging about my anorexia helped save my life

After struggling with anorexia nervosa for four years, Jemima Owen started to blog about her condition. The 20-year-old tells how, far from being a bad influence, the community she found online proved to be a 'bridge to recovery'.

Disease evolution: the origins of anorexia and how it’s shaped by culture and time

It is harder to see why a panic erupts around a diagnosis that’s a century old, but a telegenic celebrity death can help. When the singer Karen Carpenter died aged 32 in 1983, her heart gave out because of complications due to anorexia. Her death is widely credited with pushing eating disorders into the public consciousness.

Disrupting the Habits of Anorexia

How a patient learned to escape the rigid routines of an eating disorder.

How A Millennial Beat The Odds And Is Helping Others Recover From Eating Disorders

Collaborating with the top academic experts (including partnering with researchers at the Columbia University Center for Eating Disorders and Recovery Record to develop an evidence base for the program) and led by millenials in recovery, we have the potential to reach millions of people with eating disorders who suffer in silence.

How Pro-Anorexia Websites Exacerbate the Eating Disorder Epidemic

Pro-anorexia forums can be some of the only platforms for sufferers to candidly discuss their condition, but these sites can also exacerbate the problem.

I Hate You, Food: My Struggle with Anorexia

In the beginning of my recovery, it was an intense challenge for me to put a spoon or fork in my mouth. I felt like I was shoving food down my throat. So in the beginning I had to eat with my fingers, forcing myself to stay at the table until I had eaten a serving of food. Eventually I started using utensils again.

Is Anorexia a Cultural Disease?

Condemning model-thin imagery is a diversion from understanding eating disorders.

Let Them Blog

The panic over pro-anorexia websites and social media isn’t healthy.

Protocol to Treat Anorexia Is Faulted

Experts agree that much more research is needed to develop clear, evidence-based guidelines for treatment. “We don’t know the best way to treat these kids, even when they wind up in the hospital,” Dr. Rosen said. “It’s a balancing act. What you want to do is find the sweet spot between feeding people as aggressively as you can but not causing refeeding syndrome, which is a lethal, scary, dangerous disease.”

Struggling With Anorexia on the Web

For years, young people — often girls and young women — have frequented Web sites promoting anorexia and bulimia as a source of inspiration and tips on staying thin, even as online companies have worked to ban such content. Now, groups and Web sites focused on recovery from eating disorders are fighting back.

Study Sheds New Light on Anorexia Treatment

The eating disorder anorexia nervosa has been widely known for decades, but doctors still struggle for effective ways to treat it. Few large, controlled treatment studies have been performed on an ailment that, while it kills up to 15% of its victims, affects a relatively small number of people.

The Challenge of Treating Anorexia in Adults

A new program aims to help the most long-suffering patients by addressing the neurobiology of the eating disorder.

The Fashion Industry Suddenly Acknowledges Its Anorexia Problem

For decades way-too-thin models have been en vogue and in Vogue as our culture's representations of beauty, but just now, for some reasons related to the Internet, we're suddenly seeing the fashion industry respond.

There Once Was a Girl

If you were to ask me when the spores of anorexia first crept into my heart, that’s the moment I might point to, me standing in front of the picture in the hall and seeing it with fresh eyes. There. Start there.

To The Bone: Why Netflix’s portrayal of eating disorders has got it all wrong

The title To The Bone suggests something about getting to the “truth” of anorexia. Such a possibility is inevitably flawed, as there are many different ways “anorexia” can be viewed and many different experiences of having anorexia.

Why It's So Hard to Talk About Male Anorexia

I was a teenage boy who thought anorexia was a "girl's problem." I was wrong.