<P> The term anorexia nervosa was coined in 1873 by Sir William Gull, one of Queen Victoria's personal physicians . The history of anorexia nervosa begins with descriptions of religious fasting dating from the Hellenistic era and continuing into the medieval period . The medieval practice of self - starvation by women, including some young women, in the name of religious piety and purity also concerns anorexia nervosa; it is sometimes referred to as anorexia mirabilis . </P> <P> The earliest medical descriptions of anorexic illnesses are generally credited to English physician Richard Morton in 1689 . Case descriptions fitting anorexic illnesses continued throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries . </P> <P> In the late 19th century anorexia nervosa became widely accepted by the medical profession as a recognized condition . In 1873, Sir William Gull, one of Queen Victoria's personal physicians, published a seminal paper which coined the term anorexia nervosa and provided a number of detailed case descriptions and treatments . In the same year, French physician Ernest - Charles Lasègue similarly published details of a number of cases in a paper entitled De l'Anorexie hystérique . </P> <P> Awareness of the condition was largely limited to the medical profession until the latter part of the 20th century, when German - American psychoanalyst Hilde Bruch published The Golden Cage: the Enigma of Anorexia Nervosa in 1978 . Despite major advances in neuroscience, Bruch's theories tend to dominate popular thinking . A further important event was the death of the popular singer and drummer Karen Carpenter in 1983, which prompted widespread ongoing media coverage of eating disorders . </P>

When was anorexia classified as a mental illness