Obsessive-compulsive beliefs and magical ideation in eating disorders.

Objectives: Similarities in patterns of cognition and behaviour between patients with eating disorders and those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have long been recognized, and comorbidity between these disorders has been shown to be high. However, there has been little investigation of the cognitive content shared between eating disorders and OCD. It has been suggested that a cognitive analysis of the overlap between the disorders may help to increase understanding of each, and have potentially useful clinical implications.