title: Self-mutilation and eating disorders.
abstract: Patients with eating disorders are at high risk for self-mutilation (e.g., skin cutting and burning), and vice versa. Evidence for this linkage comes from a literature review, from patient interviews, from responses to an instrument we have developed (the Self-Harm Behavior Survey), and from three instructive case reports. Even if the self-mutilation in these patients is regarded as a Borderline Personality Disorder symptom, DSM-IV should list it as an associated feature or a complication of Anorexia Nervosa/Bulimia Nervosa. In lieu of a dual diagnosis, we postulate that the combination of self-mutilation, anorexia, bulimia, and other symptoms (such as episodic alcohol abuse and swallowing foreign objects) may be manifestations of an impulse control disorder known as the "deliberate self-harm syndrome."
authors.affiliation: University of Missouri, Columbia.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Favazza
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: DeRosear
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Conterio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000150:complications*