The stress response in anorexia nervosa.

Patients with eating disorders have been found to have problems with Interoceptive Awareness. This study seeks to examine this issue in an experimental paradigm. In the present study, we investigated the hypothesis that, in addition to lowering a body's autonomic stress response, a state of starvation also lowers the psychological stress response. Results indicated that those with anorexia nervosa showed a muted physiology, but they did not show a complete denial of negative emotion. No relation was seen, however, between their affective and physiological responses to a stress task, which contrasted results found for the controls.