[Dysperception of body image and dysmorphophobias in mental anorexia. Apropos of 115 cases involving both sexes. III. Physiopathogenic deductions and introduction of a novel definition of the disease]

Ignoring of emaciation (IE), fear of any weight recovery (Dalpha), and dismorphophobias (DPP) represent the central problem of AN, with different incidence. Fundamental need of being lean expresses, at lesss in girls, distress of personality insufficiently prepared to autonomous adult life, with its responsabilities. Obesity-DPP may correspond to projection upon the body of the obsessing conviction of being inferior, with regard to social and publicitary patterns, and get an active play in starting and management of weight loss. So AN is either an attempt to accomodate this critic situation, trying to incarnate actual female archetype, either, in the more severe cases, a renouncing with an obstinate physical and psychological recession to the state of a protected child. It seems to correspond to an attempt of negation of morbid character of this situation, so that it may be perpetuated and so that feeling of culpability can be decreased in front of familial recrimination. Constancy of these symptoms, and their relation with deep meaning of this illness, justify their introduction into a new definition of AN, diagnosed by association of at less 2 out of 3 major criterious (loss of weight superior to 10% premorbid weight, feed restrictions and Dalpha) and one out of 2 minor criterions (amenorrhea and IE).