ABSTRACT

IN HIS SEMINAL TEXT, Loneliness, Moustakas (1961) said, “Loneliness anxiety results from a fundamental breach between what one is and what one pretends to be, a basic alienation between man and man and between man and his nature” (p. 24). The manifestation of loneliness in eating disorders embodies this quote. Not only are sufferers alienated from others through their symptom use, their lowself worth, and their negative perception of the world, but also they are alienated from their own inner drives of hunger. Food takes on an emotional quality and is used to numb feelings, including that of loneliness. The relationship between loneliness and eating disorders extends through the entire weight spectrum from anorexia nervosa to binge eating and obesity. This article will provide a systematic literature review of loneliness and eating disorders, examining not only this emotion’s relationship to the various types of disordered eating, but also the associated intra-and interpersonal conflicts.