Eating Disorders
Section committee
CASTELLINI Giovanni , Chair
Section mission
This Section's mission is to:
Promote high standards in research, training and clinical practice in the field of so severe and disabling psychiatric disorders.
Eating disorders are one of the most common health problems in adolescents and young adults of Western countries. They are more common in females and include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder and other unspecified or otherwise specified eating disorders. Although they are primarily psychiatric disorders, they may have serious and severe consequences on the physical health of affected people, representing one of the most frequent causes of disability for young people, carrying also a significant risk for death. The WHO identified eating disorders as a priority for the mental health of adolescents and young adults.
Section objectives
- To enhance the attention of both mental and non-mental health specialists (practitioners) toward eating disorders
- To disseminate updated knowledge relevant to etiopathogenesis, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders
- To advance the development of evidence-based therapeutic interventions
- To develop proposals for adoption as EPA consensus and position statements in the field of eating disorders
- To encourage research on the identification of at risk subjects
- To establish working relations with national and international organizations sharing the goals of the EPA in the field of the Section
- To address ethical issues in research and clinical care involving people with schizophrenia
- To identify unmet needs and means to address them
- To develop and deliver training courses for undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development
- To compare clinical service, training, research and policy across Europe
- To share information of different practices and legislation in different parts of Europe
- To fight stigma and discrimination of people with eating disorders
Annual reports
Future Activities
symposium
EPA conference 2026
28 March 2026 - 31 March 2026 / Prague
Description :
Core Programme of EPA conference in Prague:
title of the symposium: Update in Neurobiology in Eating Disorders
Co-chair Giovanni Castellini
symposium
EPA conference 2026
28 March 2026 - 31 January 2026 / Prague 2026
Description :
Sympsoium in collaboration with Suicidology and Presvention section
Symposium Description: Eating disorders are psychiatric illnesses heavily burdened by death risk. This can be related to
either facet of EDs as psychosomatic disorders, i.e. the somatic one (death because of somatic complications of
starvation, organ failure, electrolyte imbalance, etc) and the psychiatric one. In this latter case, suicide and suicidal
behavior represent an issue for ED patients. Self-destructive behaviors beyond the eating disordered behaviors and
symptom are frequently comorbid. Furthermore, while previous reports have underscored a higher risk of suicide in
anorexia nervosa and of suicide attempt in bulimia nervosa, more recent ones have stressed the need to address suicidal
behavior in all ED diagnoses.
The aim of this inter-section symposium is to delve into the meaning and declinations of destructiveness in patients with
EDs, and how this dimension can come into play in the treatment process: hence the involvement of the EPA Section on
Suicidology and Suicide Prevention and of the EPA Section on Eating Disorders (EDs).
Chair - First name: Philipe
Chair - Last name: Courtet
Chair - Country: France
Co-chair - First name: Giovanni
Co-chair - Last name: Castellini
Co-chair - Country: Italy
Speaker 1 - First name: Laura
Speaker 1 - Last name: Di Lodovico
Speaker 1 - Country: France
Speaker 1 - Presentation title: Clinical, cognitive and psychopathological markers of suicide attempts in eating disorders.
Speaker 2 - First name: Giovanni
Speaker 2 - Last name: Castellini
Speaker 2 - Country: Italy
Speaker 2 - Presentation title: Early traumatic experiences, emotion dysregulation and self injuries in eating disorders: a
candidate echophenotype.
Speaker 3 - First name: Carla
Speaker 3 - Last name: Gramaglia
Speaker 3 - Country: Italy
Speaker 3 - Presentation title: The unbearable heaviness of Being. The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide in the
understanding of Eating Disorders.
Speaker 4 - First name: Philippe
Speaker 4 - Last name: Courtet
Speaker 4 - Country: France
Speaker 4 - Presentation title: Interoception and suicide in Eating Disorders.
symposium
EPA conference 2026
28 March 2026 - 31 March 2026 / Prague 2026
Description :
Proposed symposium by the Eating Disorder Section
Title: What do we need for a clinical staging model in eating disorders? State of the art and future directions.
Symposium description
Eating disorders pose a significant challenge for both clinical practice and research due to their
multifactorial etiology and severe consequences. Reliable biomarkers are still controversial, limiting the development of
effective pharmacological treatments. However, the multi-organs involvement of these pathologies reflects higher-order
dynamics across different functions including appetite, reward, and stress regulation. Staging models have become
crucial in neurology, cardiology, clinical oncology, and in mood and psychotic disorders for psychiatry, improving time and
choice of treatment interventions. This symposium will highlight groundbreaking advancements in the neurobiology of
eating disorders, emphasizing their implications for staging models and novel therapeutic strategies. Fernando
Fernandez-Aranda will introduce the theoretical and clinical foundations of staging models in psychiatry, demonstrating
their relevance in understanding and treating eating disorders. The second presentation, delivered by Hubertus
Himmerich, will discuss the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) consensus statement on
biological markers for anorexia nervosa. Furthermore, Katarzyna Kucharska will explore the interplay between emotion
regulation strategies in anorexia nervosa and borderline personality disorder using fMRI techniques, providing insights
into both shared and distinct mechanisms. Finally, Rami Bou Khalil will present stage-specific therapeutic strategies,
focusing on innovative pharmacological approaches that show promise in improving patient outcomes. This symposium
aims to foster a multidisciplinary dialogue, bridging neurobiology, clinical psychiatry, and therapeutic innovation to
address the complexities of eating disorders.
Chair - Giovanni Castellini Co-chair - Alessio Maria Monteleone
Speaker 1 - Fernando Fernandez-Aranda; Presentation title: The theoretical and clinical foundations of staging models in psychiatry and their relevance to eating disorders.
Speaker 2 - Hubertus Himmerich; Presentation title: The World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) consensus statement on biological markers for anorexia nervosa
Speaker 3 - Katarzyna Kucharska; Presentation title: Emotion dysregulation in Anorexia Nervosa and Borderline Personality Disorder: overlap and boundaries.
Speaker 4 - Rami Bou Khalil; Presentation title: Stage-specific therapeutic strategies.
symposium
EPA conference 2026
28 March 2026 - 31 January 2026 / Prague 2026
Description :
Ttile of the symposium: Challenging Conditions in the Treatment of LGBTIQ+ Patients (Joint symposium with the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities Section)
Comorbid disorders often pose a major challenge in the treatment of LGBTIQ+ patients. The joint symposium of the EPA Sections „Sexual orientations and gender identities“ and „Eating disorder“ will therefore provide an overview of frequently asked questions and uncertainties. Giovanni Castellani, Chairoft he EPA Section „Eating disorders“ will report on special features of the psychopathology of eating disorders in LGBTIQ+ patients. Dagmar Pauli, Head of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Zurich, will discuss the overlap between neurodiversity and gender dysphoria. Marcus Gertzen, Chairman of the Federal Initiative on Sexualized Substance Use, will report on challenges in the treatment of chemsex patients. Koray Basar, will highlight the particular challenges in the treatment of patients for whom coming out is not possible due to different conditions in the family or society.
Giovanni Castellini: Eating Disorder: Psychopathology in LGBTIQ+ patients,
Dagmar Pauli: Neurodiversity and Gender Dysphoria: Understanding the intersections,
Marcus Gertzen :Chemsex – A challenge for the LGBTIQ+ community
Koray Basar: Assisting the burden of concealment