From The Rockefeller University, New York,

Studies of the behavioral responses of obese patients during weight reduction present conflicting observations. This is due, in part, to methodologic problems. A possible solution is offered by a multidisciplinary investigation of obese patients before, during, and after weight reduction. This report gives details of one aspect of such an approach; namely, a clinical evaluation of psychopathologic reactions and psychodynamic processes of obese patients during weight loss. Four obese patients were fed a 600-cal./day liquid formula over a period of 16-20 weeks. Each patient manifested nonspecific symptoms of semi-starvation in addition to specific psychopathologic reactions related to individual personality structure. In these patients, psychopathologic adaptations during weight reduc-tion were related to diminished body size, interpersonal transactions in the hos-pital environment which articulated with earlier injurious experiences, and caloric deprivation. I H E BEHAVIORAL changes which occur in individuals during starvation have been studied by a number of investiga