Obesity and psychoanalysis: treatment and four-year follow-up

Psychoanalysts provided information about 84 obese patients and 63 patients of normal weight at the beginning of this study, 18 months later, and 4 years later. Treatment lasted from 3 to more than 7 years. Although obesity was the chief complaint of only 6% of the obese patients, their weight loss and maintenance of it compared favorably with results reported for other psychological treatments for obesity. Severe body image disparagement was present in 39% of the obese patients at the beginning of treatment but in only 18% at the 4-year follow-up. Most patients improved in their chief complaint and presenting symptoms. The study indicates that large-scale collaborative research in psychoanalysis is feasible.