An Anorexia Diagnosis Wasn’t Fully Accepted Until the 1970’s
Even though the disease was identified by Sir William Gull in the 1800’s, it was still brushed off as a mental disorder, or simple female vanity. Many people didn’t consider it to be a real disease. It wasn’t until 1978 when it was more widely known. A psychiatrist named Hilde Bruch published a book called The Golden Cage: The Enigma of Anorexia Nervosa so that more people began to understand the disease in the medical community. She also published books on childhood obesity as well. Bruch described problems in body perception, emotion processing and interpersonal relationships as core theoretical aspects of the illness. She also expanded on the suggested psychotherapy treatments that should go along with Gull’s “Maudsley Method”.