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Loss of personal identity is a difficult problem which is relatively rarely encountered in psychiatric practice. A case is reported of an adolescent of 15 years of age with total amnesia over a period of two months. His true identity was discovered only after his photograph and story had been published in a widely-read daily newspaper. Following a discussion on the possible etiological mechanisms involved, two problems remained unresolved: the difficulty of establishing a psychopathological basis for a loss of identity, and the prognostic uncertainty inherent in restoring the adolescent's identity.

Adolescent anorexia nervosa is characterised by its relationship to pubertal conflicts. The authors report two cases showing that this syndrome is not confined to girls. In boys, it usually results in delayed puberty. The diagnostic criteria are detailed. The concept of pathological process, causing stereotyped syndrome, is distinguished from the notion of psychological organisation which gives rise to wide individual variation. The pathological outcome is considered in the context of pubertal dynamics, marked by the reemergence of the oedipus conflict and the rearrangement of the patients identificatory systems, and also in the continuity of the particular libidinal behaviour, characterised by important points of fixation of the oral pulsion. The role of the family group in the initiation and maintenance of the anorectic behaviour is also discussed.