The theme of death in the French and German literature on eating disorders.

It is not widely appreciated in the English-speaking world that a number of articles written in French and German do address the role played by death preoccupations and concerns in the development and maintenance of eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa. In previous published articles these important "hidden" threads have been highlighted in examining in some detail, the writings of the German authors Binswanger, Von Weizsäcker, and Thomä. In this article, the writings of other German authors are also briefly reviewed as well as the French authors Bensoussan, Fouraste, Raimbault, and Thouzery-Loras. Implications and issues are posed for both the researchers and clinicians alike contributing to the literature in English on eating disorders, who do not necessarily embrace these themes in therapy and who may not reflect their significance to theory in the literature itself.