Quantitative assessment of psychologic state of patients with anorexia nervosa or bulimia: Response to caloric stimulus

Hospitalized patients with anorexia nervosa (N=17) or bulimia (N=11) were given a standard liquid meal containing 400 calories. Using analogue scales, bulimic patients were found to have greater anxiety, lower mood, lower sexual arousal, and more fear of fatness than either control or anorectic patients. This finding of increased general 'dysphoria' in bulimic patients persisted after the meal without any significant premeal to postmeal changes. Anorectic patients also differed from controls, but less than the bulimic patients. Some measures of anxiety correlated significantly with body mass index before the meal in bulimic patients, whereas in anorectic patients the correlation was significant only after the meal.