Feeding and eating disorders (EDs) are severe mental illnesses. This chapter gives a concise overview regarding EDs, their diagnostic configuration, and comorbidity with other mental illnesses. Moreover, the focus included vulnerability and psychological aspects of EDs, with particular attention given to the impact of dysfunctional attachment dynamics and relational trauma on the onset of each type of ED. The chapter covers EDs such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED). Types of EDs also included those that are not present in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5), but are frequently found in clinical practice. Such disorders (e.g., bulimarexia or orthorexia) are symptomatological manifestations that require further investigation to clarify risk factors related to their onset and to shed light on their mechanism of action.

This chapter briefly discusses the interaction of trauma, attachment injury, and dissociation in treating eating disorders (EDs). What is it that causes some people to develop an ED, and others to manage eating behaviors in a relatively normal manner? The answer is anything but simple. EDs are a biopsychosocial illness. They are the result of a complex interplay of factors including genes, temperament, social interactions, early attachment, culture, and of course life experiences. These variables come together and affect each other in a perfect storm fashion and may result in ED psychopathology. The cycle of being flooded with early, unprocessed trauma upon remittance of ED symptoms, followed by relapse, reduces the foundation of treatment to shifting sand. Unless the trauma and the ED are treated simultaneously, treatment becomes futile at best: fraught with multiple relapses, behavioral substitutions, feelings of hopelessness, and premature termination.