Self-starvation in a diabetic adolescent.

The case of a 14-year-old girl who began food refusal shortly after the development of diabetes mellitus is presented. Her dieting eliminated the need for insulin and urine testing and, as a result, allowed the patient to deny that she had diabetes. Although her course resembled that seen in primary anorexia nervosa, this patient was felt to have atypical anorexia nervosa, in this case an extreme form of illness denial probably associated with psychosis.