At the Eating Disorders Unit at the Maudsley Hospital in London, anorexia is not seen as a social disorder - or even primarily a psychological one. While most American treatment providers blame perfection-seeking parents and the media's idealization of hollow-cheeked actresses for eating disorders (among other dysfunctional behaviors), researchers at Maudsley believe the root cause has little to do with social pressure. Rather, they think anorexia is better explained by heredity - perhaps by some of the same genes associated with autism.
The London researchers have been studying the commonalities between these two conditions for several years. On the surface, they appear entirely different - in autism, patients have difficulty connecting with people in the outside world, while in anorexia, sufferers seem consumed by other people's perceptions - but Maudsley researchers point out that the salient characteristics of each illness are similar.
For example, both anorexic and autistic patients have a tendency to behave obsessively and suffer from rigid ways of thinking. Tic disorders, which commonly affect people with autism, are found in 27% of people with severe anorexia. And in both conditions, patients have difficulty with "set-shifting," or changing course mentally.
That's an interesting article. I have never heard of a possible link between anorexia and autism before, but I suppose it's possible. Both eating disorders and autism run in my family, though no one has suffered from both conditions. I'd be interested in reading more about this.
A Genetic Link Between Anorexia and Autism?
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