Abstract

Within psychology, the evaluation of a case that allows us to establish a primary diagnosis generally involves setting intervention and treatment guidelines, which are more or less standardised and must be adapted to the patient’s individual needs. In spite of this, sometimes getting new information can let us appreciate that a primary disorder is, in fact, a secondary symptom stemmed from a previous original situation which is necessary to know in order to solve the original causes that sustain it. Bearing this in mind, we will look at the real case of a patient, whose anorexia was actually a symptom derived from a disguised condition of gender-based violence that she was suffering at home.

Abbreviations: BDI: Beck’s Depression Inventory; BSS: Beck’s Suicide Scale; BSQ: Body Shape Questionnaire; EDI: Eating Disorder Scale