TREATING BINGE-EATING PROBLEMS IN PRIMARY-CARE

Binge eating problems are a common source of psychiatric morbidity amo ng young adult women. To date, the research on their treatment has bee n conducted almost exclusively in specialist settings. As it is unlike ly there will ever be sufficient specialist resources to address a pro blem of this scale, a priority is to develop treatments that can be ap plied more generally. One option is to develop treatments suitable for use in primary care. Four such treatments are available: antidepressa nt drugs, brief cognitive behavior therapy, and the use of a cognitive behavioral self-help manual with or without supervision from a nonspe cialist therapist. Tests of the effectiveness of these treatments are needed.