Treatment for anorexia nervosa: Are we missing the mark?

Extract: Eating Disorders (EDs) are serious psychological conditions where attitudes toward food, weight and body size or shape become distorted and severe disturbances in eating or exercise behaviours often occur (Fairburn and Harrison, 2003). In a categorical sense, EDs can be divided into four broad groups: Anorexia Nervosa (AN),Bulimia Nervosa (BN), Binge Eating Disorder (BED)and Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders(OSFED, previously EDNOS) (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, 2013).However, these categories are not discrete and it is not uncommon for sufferers to experience a spectrum of symptoms or crossover between diagnostic criteria. In the many years of ED research, if there is anything the scientific and clinical community have learned, it is that EDs are incredibly complex and multifaceted, with no one-size fits all solution (Strober and Johnson, 2012).For the purpose of the current editorial, the authors have focused on AN, as the evidence and efficacy for treatment approaches remains limited.