Athletic amenorrhea, major affective disorders, and eating disorders.

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.