REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychopathology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1547214
Phenomenological approach to eating disorders: a scoping review
Provisionally accepted
- University of Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Brazil
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Eating disorders are defined as persistent eating disturbances that compromise physical health and psychosocial functioning. Many of the patients transition between different diagnostic categories and have high mortality rates, which highlights the complexity of these illnesses. Using scientific literature, this study aimed to identify the contributions of the phenomenological approach related to eating disorders. A total of 30 articles were selected for analysis after adopting eligibility criteria that included: studies with effective publication status; published between 2013 and 2024; and available in Portuguese, French and/or English. The collection revealed a significant predominance of discussions about anorexia nervosa, followed by binge eating and bulimia. Through analysis, the following discursive themes were listed: corporeality; identity and relationship with others; proprioception and eating behavior; and clinical treatments. It is concluded that these findings highlight a need for treatment perspectives to consider the bodily experience in patients of eating disorders and its relations with otherness and oneself. It is considered that the modes of being in the diagnoses of Pica, Rumination and ARFID should be taken account in further research, as such works could elucidate questions on the nature of eating disorders.
Keywords: Eating Disorders, eating and feeding disorders, Phenomenology, Phenomenological psychopathology, Scoping review
Received: 17 Dec 2024; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Silva, Teles, Leão E Silva De Castro, Souza and Bloc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Eduardo Barreto Fernandes Silva, University of Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Brazil
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