Does Anorexia have any connection to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

I was watching the BBC documentary last night about young girls with anorexia and it struck me how the girl's compulsions, habits and obsessions with food is very much like symptoms of OCD i.e. the constant thinking about it all the time, getting panicked, etc etc. until it becomes a way of life.

I have no experience with eating disorders but I do with OCD, so I was interested in their correlation.

Can OCD suffers develop anorexia or bullemia more easily due to their compulsive, obsessive nature?

Yes they can, and I have found myself going down the same route.

I have lost 5 stone in the last 3 years and have now become totally obsessed with the fear of putting it back on again that my body image is totally shot to pieces. I am by no means fat, I wear medium tops and 32 / 34 inch waist trousers / jeans, but when I look in the mirror all I see is FAT FAT FAT, does that make any sense?

I have developed a minor case of OCD and fortunately I do realise it. I just have to try and combat it, but its hard.

as it is alll about being in control i suspect that they are closely linked and wouldnt be surprised if those with anorexia didnt have sone kind of ocd too!

No I'm pretty sure anorexia isn't related to OCD. It's a eating disorder.
OCD is a lot of little obsessions like not stepping on cracks, or couting things repetedly etc.

though i cant really give a medically sound reply but i think anorexia is a result of an obsession to lose weight, to look good and be socially acceptable. Everyone wants these things but certain people tend to go overboard with it. So i do think that at some certain level eating disorders and OCD are related to each other

yes absolutely, it's because it too is about controlling what goes on in your world, with anorexia/bulimia it's controlling what goes in the body, and about low self image, often associated with depression, ocd is about keeping control over the surroundings we live in, it's something that can take over your life just as eating disorders do

I think there is every chance of this happening. I was watching Freaky Eaters the other day and suddenly realised how many eating disorders are actually out there. Not only are the 3 anorexia nervosa the most common one, then bulimia nervosa and obesity, but all those people out there that use food as an emotional crutch from something that happened in their childhood that has left them eating only certain things like spag hoops and toast every meal or pizza and chips.
I think all these eating disorders come under a big umbrella of OCD including body dymorphias and the mens muscle dysmorphia or 'bigorexia' where a man thinks he is too small and puny even though he has rippling muscles from working out.
To answer your question I do think that it can be possible for any type of strange eating disorder to develop from OCD symptoms.
D73

They then boiled the list down to six traits that appear to run in families and thus might be influenced by inherited genes. Those traits are:

Anxiety
Obsessionality -- thoughts that appear over and over again, or an intense preoccupation with symmetry, exactness, and order.(see webmd.com/mental health/news or healthatoz.com)
Age at first menstruation. Girls who reach puberty earlier than others, Bulik says, become more full figured than their prepubescent peers. To fit in, they may wish to regain their childlike figure.
Food-related obsessions
Lowest body weight during eating disorder
Concern over mistakes these certainly link to obsessive behaviour so check out these sites

Don't know. Great question though and I get exactly where you're coming from. Would seem to make sense.

eating disorders can appear without the person having OCD but it is common for people with ocd to have other conditions such as anorexia,bulimia, binge eating similer to bulimia except they don't make themselfs sick , tourets, compulsive skin picking,hair pulling,body dismorphia, but not every person who suffers from these disorders will have ocd but sometimes people can develop ocd after having one of the above promlems