PTSD presenting as an eating disorder

Although the incidence of eating disorders has been on the rise in the past decade, their etiology is still obscure and their treatment still unsatisfactory, with a relatively high mortality rate. This article describes a special subgroup of patients with an eating disorder whose underlying illness was a previously undiagnosed post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Once the proper diagnosis was made and the therapy was focused on the proper resolution of the trauma and its effects, the patients showed improvement in their overall state of mind, including the eating disorder symptoms. It is hoped that this article will heighten the clinicians' awareness of this subgroup of eating disorder patients and improve the treatment outcome.