Atypical anorexia nervosa: Separation from typical cases in course and outcome in a long-term prospective study

The resistance to maintaining normal body weight is seen as a defining aspect of anorexia nervosa. It is difficult to judge whether there are significant differences between cases of psychologically motivated self-starvation and body image disturbance. A study of data from a long-term longitudinal prospective follow-up suggests that the two diagnostic subtypes exhibit different course progressions and outcomes.