However, historical evidence shows these disorders have been around for quite some timealbeit in somewhat different forms.
Learn about the history of eating disorders, including when they first appeared and how they were diagnosed.
There were additional accounts of extremeself-induced fastingthat often led to premature death by starvation from the Middle Ages.
Photo by Rebecca Muhlheim.
Catherina of Siena is one example.
Yet, she was always able to receive the Eucharist.
The next cases reported were about 200 years later.
Earlier psychoanalytic explanations of the illness have been replaced as our understanding of genetic and biological processes has increased.
Bulimia nervosa was first described as a variant of anorexia in 1979 by British psychiatrist, Gerald Russell.
Russell believed bulimia nervosa was a culture-bound condition and not relevant to our modern understanding of the disorder.
This famous paper was titled “Bulimia nervosa: an ominous variant of anorexia nervosa.
Since then, it has become more common.
History of Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating disorderwas even later on the scene.
This disorder was first described in 1959 by psychiatrist Albert Stunkard, who coined the term night eating syndrome.
“He later specified that binge eating could occur without the nocturnal component of that disorder.
Binge eating disorder was first studied in weight loss populations.
It went on to become the most studied manual for the treatment of eating disorders.
The common factor was that emotional factors were believed to play a causal role.
The DSMs second edition (DSM-II) was published in 1968.
In it, anorexia was categorized under special symptoms.
This category included other “special symptoms feeding disturbances” such as pica and rumination.
Bulimianot yet called bulimia nervosamade its first appearance in this edition.
With thepublication of the DSM-IVin 1994, bulimia nervosa appeared in its current form.
This diagnostic criteria introduced the required feature of shape and weight concerns.
Binge eating disorder finally made an appearance as an independent diagnosis in theDSM-5 in 2013.
TheDSM-5also includedavoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) for the first time.
Purging appears limited to a context in which prevention of weight gain is culturally meaningful.
Our understanding of these illnesses continues to expand and evolve.
We now know they are complex illnesses sparked by an interplay of genetic and environmental factors.
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