This is an excellent paper presenting the author's views of the development of anorexia nervosa as well as her mode of psychotherapy in dealing with such cases. She begins by differentiating between genuine or primary anorexia nervosa and unspecific states of malnutrition in connection with a variety of psychiatric problems. In the true condition she recognizes three areas of disordered psychological functioning: a disturbance in the body image of delusional proportions with a dramatic denial of illness; a disturbance of the accuracy of perception or cognitive interpretation of stimuli arising in the body; and a paralyzing sense of ineffectiveness that pervades all thinking and activities. She conceives of anorexia nervosa as shouting 'an unrelenting NO, which extends to every area of living, though most conspicuous in the food area'. It seems genetically related to the parents' pervasive attitude of doing for the child and superimposing their concepts