Katherine A. Halmi, MD

Eating disorders in patients with schizophrenia have been underappreciated and poorly studied. Profiling characteristic phenotypic patterns will help clarify the distinctions among eating behaviors that are part of the spectrum of schizophrenia, those that represent distinct coexistent entities, and those that represent overlapping comorbidity.

Diagnosis of the two main major eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, can be difficult because of denial of symptomatology by the patients and problems with some of the diagnostic criteria. Although CBT has been the most effective, there are no treatments available that can guarantee a cure for either disorder. Medication is only a helpful adjunct to the treatment of anorexia, while many controlled studies that show antidepressant medications are effective in reducing binge/purge behavior in bulimia.