Anorexia Nervosa and Concurrent Psychiatric Comorbidity

Psychiatric comorbidity indicates the possibility of diagnosing more than one disorder in the same individual. Anorexia nervosa presents a high psychiatric comorbidity with implications both on a theoretical and clinical level. Population-based and clinical-based studies provided lifetime and concurrent rate of the main psychiatric comorbidities in anorexia nervosa. In the community sample, anorexia nervosa presented a prevalence of approximately at least one psychiatric comorbidity ranging from 20% to 50%. In the clinical sample, results were oriented toward the search for the most frequent comorbid disorders. They are depressive and bipolar disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, psychosis, substance abuse disorder, and personality disorders. Con- comitant psychiatric comorbidity has strong impact on the onset, course, clinical manifestations, prognosis, and treatment of AN; therefore, it should be carefully assessed and treated. Psychiatric comorbidity can impact on symptom severity, hinder functional recovery, substantially worsen outcome, and be a risk factor for mortality.