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Background: Prisoners in Nazi concentration camps lived through extreme situations that included starvation. We test our hypothesis that there is a greater lifetime presence of binge eating among survivors from concentration camps than in a control group., Methods: The subjects were 51 political prisoners who survived Nazi concentration camps and 47 ex-partisans of similar age and sex. A clinical interview investigated the lifetime occurrence of binge eating. The Eating Attitudes Test was also administered., Results: The mean reported loss of weight among survivors was 27-3 kg. Thirty-three per cent of them and 4% of the ex-partisans reported going on eating binges at some time in their lives (P < 0.0007). There was no significant difference in the Eating Attitudes Test scores of survivors and ex-partisans, but, among survivors, the Bulimia subscale significantly discriminated subjects who reported current binge eating., Conclusions: Our study confirms that subjects who have survived a period of extreme food deprivation are more likely to develop binge eating behaviour.

Background: The study aimed to assess the current and lifetime rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression (MDD) among Nazi concentration camps survivors., Methods: We investigated 51 Italian political deportees and 47 Resistance Movement veterans who reported traumatic experiences during active service. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV was used to assess the presence of PTSD and MDD. The Dissociative Experiences Scale and the shorter version of the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist were also administered., Results: The lifetime rates of PTSD and MDD were 35.3% and 45.1% respectively among deportees and 4.3% and 6.4% among former partisans. The current rates for PTSD and MDD were 25.5% and 33.3% among deportees and 4.3% and 4.3% among former partisans. Dissociative symptoms were more severe among deportees than among Resistance movement veterans., Conclusions: Concentration camp internment, even for political reasons, appears to have severe long-term psychiatric consequences.