An eating disorder that often leads to dangerous low body weight, anorexia nervosa generally involves highly exaggerated fears of gaining weight and distorted body perceptions in patients. Although some experts trace the roots of anorexia nervosa to ancient or medieval times, the first widely recognized and detailed account of the disorder occurred in 1689. Treating both a boy and a girl who were wasting away while professing a loss of appetite, English physician Richard Morton declared “this consumption to be nervous.”
Another English physician, William Gull, coined the term “anorexia nervosa” in various 1873 case reports. That same year, French physician Ernest Charles Lasegue released descriptions of patients with “anorexie hysterique.” However, anorexia nervosa didn’t find widespread understanding until the mid-1900s, thanks to the prolific publications of American doctor Hilde Bruch.
