Eating Disorders Awareness Week: second most lethal psychiatric disorder is anorexia nervosa

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Anorexia nervosa, a type of eating disorder, is the second most lethal psychiatric disorder — after opioid overdose.

Nearly 28.8 million Americans will experience an eating disorder in their life.

Prolonged hospitalization and weight restoration is often necessary for treatment, totaling $65 billion annually in the United States and costing 10,000 Americans lives each year.

“Anorexia nervosa has the highest rate of death of any psychiatric illness. We are now beginning to understand why people develop these disorders, and we are using this information to develop more effective treatment,” said Walter H. Kaye, MD, who joined KUSI to stress the importance of treating this illness.

A task force from the Academy for Eating Disorders, spearheaded by Walter H. Kaye, MD, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, and Cynthia M. Bulik, PhD, Distinguised Professor of Psychiatry at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have called for urgency in treating patients with anorexia nervosa in the U.S.