Anorexia is not the fear of putting on weight but rather the pleasure of losing weight, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Translational Psychiatry.
Researchers from the Sainte-Anne Hospital Center (France) wanted to understand what mechanisms were put in place in people affected by anorexia.
“When research stalls, it is important to question the criteria that are at the very basis of the disorder,” said Professor Philip Gorwood, author of the study.
The researchers used a “skin conductance” test that measures the perspiration of the skin of volunteers exposed to various images. The emotion provoked by certain images indeed leads to an increase in sweating, rapid and automatic.
The researchers showed images of people of normal weight or overweight to 70 patients, affected by theanorexia. In these patients with varying degrees of disease severity viewing these images elicited roughly the same reaction as healthy volunteers.
On the other hand, in front of images of thinness, the anorexics displayed emotions evaluated as positive while the healthy subjects did not feel any particular emotions.
“We therefore re-evaluated the last criterion, which is nevertheless very present in the discourse of the patients, by assuming that it would be a mirror reflection of what is really involved, that is say a reward effect of weight loss ”. We established the postulate that patients felt the pleasure of losing weight rather than the fear of putting on weight. ”
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that mainly affects young girls. The diagnosis is based on three international criteria: the presence of dietary restriction leading to weight loss, a distorted perception of weight and body and an intense fear of putting on weight. THE’anorexia nervosa affects 0.5% of young girls in France and 0.03% of boys between 12 and 17 years old, according to Inserm. There is today as much treatment to treat this eating disorder.
Read also:
Anorexia: it would be due to a bad intestinal flora
Anorexia: the warning signs
A link between anorexia and autism has been identified
