Convergences that are no more

Abstract

The study of psychiatric disorders that are no more is as important to the historian of psychiatry as that of those considered as ‘current’, ‘true’ and ‘scientific’. Indeed, within each historical period this latter status is conferred upon ongoing mental and physical disorders. As an example, a historical vignette is offered of ‘Bulimia’, a popular disorder during the 18th century but since disappeared. It is suggested that mental symptoms, syndromes and disorders are constructed by the convergence in the work of a writer of a name, a concept and behaviours which at the time are considered as socially undesirable. Complex social and economic factors determine the success of a convergence. The word Bulimia is still in use in the 21st century but is a member of an entirely different convergence.