Differential diagnosis of anorexia nervosa and depressive illness: a review of 11 studies.

A review of differential diagnostic information from 11 studies of patients with anorexia nervosa is provided. Both intercurrent depressive and obsessive-compulsive features are most frequently reported overall. In seven of these studies providing information about premorbid and intercurrent personality disturbances, obsessive-compulsive characteristics are reported as most frequent in four. It is suggested that presumed connections between anorexia nervosa and depressive illness may be secondary to a more direct link with the obsessive-compulsive syndrome.