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Sexual Dysfunction in Eating Disorders

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Sexual Dysfunctions in Mentally Ill Patients

Part of the book series: Trends in Andrology and Sexual Medicine ((TASM))

Abstract

Eating disorders and sexual dysfunctions share risk and maintaining factors, including biological alterations and psychopathological factors. Despite this clear overlap between these conditions, only recently the scientific community appeared to be interested in sexuality of these patients. The relationship between eating disorders and sexuality can be considered in terms of sexual dysfunction as well as taking into account hypersexuality and dangerous sexual behaviors. Indeed, patients with anorexia or bulimia nervosa and patients with binge eating disorder often reported reduced sexual desire and reduced orgasmic function. These alterations are not simply related with the medical consequences of the disorders; rather they have been associated with typical psychopathological dimensions in eating disorders, such as body image disturbance or emotion dysregulation. Furthermore, sexual abuse is a common risk factor for both eating and sexual disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychiatric Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Giovanni Castellini & Valdo Ricca

  2. Department of Experimental, Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Mario Maggi

Authors
  1. Giovanni Castellini
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  2. Mario Maggi
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  3. Valdo Ricca
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Correspondence to Valdo Ricca .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

    Emmanuele A. Jannini

  2. Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

    Alberto Siracusano

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Castellini, G., Maggi, M., Ricca, V. (2018). Sexual Dysfunction in Eating Disorders. In: Jannini, E., Siracusano, A. (eds) Sexual Dysfunctions in Mentally Ill Patients. Trends in Andrology and Sexual Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68306-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68306-5_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68305-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68306-5

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