Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:939-942
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Athletic amenorrhea, major affective disorders, and eating disorders
WJ Gadpaille, CF Sanborn and WW Wagner Jr
While studying amenorrheic runners, the authors became aware of psychiatric
differences between them. Psychiatric interviews of 13 amenorrheic and 19
regularly menstruating runners revealed that of the amenorrheic runners, 11
reported major affective disorders in themselves or in first- and
second-degree relatives and eight reported eating disorders in themselves.
Among the regularly menstruating runners, however, there were no eating
disorders or major affective disorders, and only one had first-degree
relatives with major affective disorders. These data suggest a link between
athletic amenorrhea in runners, major affective disorders, and eating
disorders.
