摂食障害は生命を脅かす可能性さえある精神疾患で、しばしば無視することのできない深刻な健康被害を伴います。一般的には、若者が大学に進学したり、初めての就職のために面接を受けたり、といった思春期から青年期にかけて発症します。多くの人は治療を経て完全に回復しますが、慢性化する人もいて、壮年期以降も症状が続くことがあります。
摂食障害研究と臨床治療の第一人者が執筆した本書は、神経性食欲不振症、神経性過食症、むちゃ食い障害、そして新たに報告された回避・制限性食物摂取障害（ARFID）など、摂食障害に関する一般的な疑問に答え、治療について紹介するものです。本書で説明されているように、摂食障害は脳に起因する疾患であり、決して裕福な人、外見を気にする若い女性、そして痩身へのこだわりのあるファッション業界関係者だけがかかる病気ではありません。以前から存在する、誰もが平等にかかり得る病気です。この誤解の多い病気について、一般読者に向け、最新の知見に基づいた情報を提供します。
　　　

• Provides detailed information on anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)
• Approachable and easy-to-digest Q&A format demystifies complicated, often misunderstood illnesses
• Offers a reader-friendly review of the latest scientific research on eating disorders and their treatment

　　
Eating disorders are potentially life-threatening psychiatric illnesses commonly accompanied by serious medical problems. They typically appear during adolescence or early adulthood, a time when young people are heading to college or interviewing for a first job. Many people recover fully from eating disorders, but others become chronically ill, and symptoms can continue into middle age and beyond.
　　　
Written by leading authorities in eating disorders research and treatment, Eating Disorders: What Everyone Needs to Know® answers common questions about eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, as well as a newly described condition, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Practical yet authoritative, the book defines the eating disorders, explains what we know about them based on the latest science, and describes how treatment works. Importantly, the book dispels common myths about eating disorders, such as the notion that they occur only amongst the affluent, that they affect only girls and women, or that they simply result from environmental factors such as the fashion industry and society's obsession with thinness. In reality, as the book explains, there is substantial evidence that eating disorders are brain-based illnesses that do not discriminate, and that they have been around for a very long time. Eating Disorders: What Everyone Needs to Know® is essential reading for those seeking authoritative and current information about these often misunderstood illnesses.