Food and mood: relationship between food, serotonin and affective disorders

The relationship of food and eating with affective and other clinical disorders is complex and intriguing. Serotoninergic dysfunction in seasonal affective disorder, atypical depression, premenstrual syndrome, anorexia and bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder is reviewed. Patients exhibiting a relationship between food and behaviour are found in various diagnostic categories. This points to a need to shift from nosological to functional thinking in psychiatry. It also means application of psychopharmacological treatments across diagnostic boundaries. The use of phototherapy and psychotropic drugs (MAO inhibitors and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors like fluoxetine) in these disorders is discussed.