The problem of anorexia nervosa

In anorexia nervosa the pain of hunger or, alternatively (in bulemia), of glut recalls Freud's aphorism that the man with toothache cannot fall in love. But object longing remains and stimulates such envy that the anorectic must project her wishes; she is not be found wanting. The use of projection, in turn, complicates self-other boundaries, with the result that she experiences not only people but even food as overpowering. This, then, excites more envy, indeed an envy so ruinous that self-starvation or compulsive evacuations are employed additionally to make reparation. Because all of this condenses into Less is More, the anorexic poses particular problems for analytic treatment, which is the subject of a companion paper.