ABSTRACT
Comorbidity is the rule rather than the exception when it comes to eating disorders (EDs), particularly bulimia nervosa (BN). The common types of comorbid psychiatric disorders (on axes I and II) and comorbid medical disorders (on axis III) are reviewed in Chapters 8, 9, and 10, respectively. Comorbidity is simply the coexistence of one disorder with another disorder in the same person. When one disorder, e.g., major depressive disorder (MDD), occurs with another in the present time this constitutes current prevalence or history, whereas when another disorder occurs at any point during the lifetime of the individual it constitutes lifetime prevalence or previous history of that comorbid disorder. While current comorbidity is more strongly the purview of clinicians managing acute EDs, particularly in an inpatient setting, obtaining the lifetime history of all forms of comorbidity is extremely important in order for the clinician to see the “big picture,” the “forest” and the “trees,” and the wholistic, developmental, and biopsychosocial perspective.
