Anorexia nervosa: Outpatient treatment and medical management

Figure 1 Illustration of how anorexia nervosa may develop in most patients. Dieting, excessive exercise, depression, trauma, gastrointestinal disorder or protracted infection induce weight loss and malnutrition. In susceptible individuals the malnutrition causes the development of maintaining psychological mechanisms, which in turn decrease food intake and increase malnutrition. The malnourished patients enter a vicious cycle of reduced food intake with increasing overvaluation of shape and weight, they often establish dietary rules in order to decrease food intake and restrict their food intake. Everyday stressful experiences may induce event - or mood triggered further reduction in food intake.