Theories surrounding anorexia nervosa's aetiology have changed constantly over the years. Current thought suggests a combination of several different environmental triggers influenced by culture, which include: developing sexuality, competitive environments, the media and the patient's relationship with their father, among others. These all point to a potential conflict in the patient's sense of personal identity. Objectives - the objective of this paper was to consider the different philosophical interpretations of identity and see if they could be applied to our understanding of anorexia nervosa. Aim - the aim was to see whether in fact anorexia nervosa results from a conflict between different personal identities.

Analysis of various philosophical ideas of personal identity was performed to consider their validity as theories and form a coherent idea of personal identity. This knowledge was then applied to the principles of anorexia in an attempt to increase our understanding of the disorder.

No single philosophical theory of personal identity is completely sufficient and psychological research would indicate that identity is a combination of psychological, physical, group and third person. in anorexia nervosa many of these parts of identity can be negatively affected.

Anorexia seems to result from a loss of control over at least one form of identity. Possible conflicts can arise between a psychological sense of self and the physical reality or between a first person view and third person view of the sufferer. Treatment should seek to resolve these crises.