[Antidepressants sometimes lead to rapid remission in the treatment of anorexia nervosa].

In the treatment of anorexia nervosa the dominant role of psychotherapies is proposed, while pharmacotherapy has a limited effi cacy. Because of the broad comorbidity spectrum of the disorder, other psychiatric disorders are often present. Among them depression is frequent, so one of the selective theories of eating disorders stresses the importance of the relationship with depression. In everyday practice we frequently encounter anorexic patients whose depressive symptoms are mild or moderate, and these are often regarded as usual accompanying phenomena of anorexia. The three case reports described in the present study support that it is worth to consider the application of antidepressants in such situations. In all three cases antidepressants were initiated following ineffi cacy of psychotherapy, and they produced a dramatic eff ectiveness not only in depressive symptoms, but also in the whole anorexic syndrome. In the complex therapy of anorexia nervosa antidepressants may yield a very good therapeutic eff ect in cases with comorbid, even subthreshold depression.