Research has evaluated cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy for the treatment of binge-eating disorder (BED); other therapies, however, have received less attention. The aim of our research was to analyze the efficacy of two group therapies for BED patients: analytic psychotherapy and psychoeducation. The psychotherapeutic intervention consisted of group-analytic psychotherapy of 14 sessions over a 28-week period; the group psychoeducational intervention involved 10 sessions over a 10-week period. The Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the 16-Personality Factors questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 were used for psychometric assessment. Two follow-up assessments were performed after 6 and 12 months, respectively. At the end of treatment, most patients were without eating disorders and had a lower rate of binge episodes. The psychoeducational group patients improved markedly in alexithymic traits related to the ability to describe feelings. At follow-up, most patients were still without eating disorders and had few binge episodes. Although psychoeducational group patients confirmed the amelioration on alexithymic traits, analytic psychotherapy group patients showed a trend toward an improvement in personality traits related to the ability to be at ease when communicating with others.Binge-eating disorder (BED) was first described by Stunkard (1959) in a subgroup of obese patients who usually engaged in recurrent binge-eating episodes. However, only recently has this disorder received empirical attention and is currently included in Appendix

BACKGROUND Suicidal behaviour represents a social and health-related issue of prime importance in both the general and psychiatric population. People with mental illness are at great risk of suicide, but indirect evidence suggests that the treatment of psychiatric disorders may prevent suicide. The aim of our study was to compare the risk of suicide in the population of psychiatric patients with that of the general population in Friuli Venezia-Giulia (FVG). METHOD We analyzed the suicide rates, based on the official statistical database, relating to the resident population in FVG during the years 1998-1999. The sucide rates (per 100 000 subjects) were standardised by sex and age. The characteristics of suicidal behaviour in subjects who had been in contact with (Community Mental Health Centres) CMHC (n=65) were compared with that of suicidal subjects not in contact (n=237). RESULTS There was an increase in the suicide phenomenon in the elderly population in FVG over the tested period. The rates were three times higher in males than in females. The rates of patients in contact with CMHC in 1998 and in 1999 were, respectively, 14 and 20 times higher than that of the general population. Most suicidal schizophrenics and 37% of the depressed patients have been previously hospitalised. CONCLUSION The population of north-eastern Italy is at high risk of suicide compared to other regions. The mortality ratio of psychiatric subjects who commit suicide in our sample is elevated. Since Italian community-oriented services rely less on hospitalisation than in other countries, the fact that about 50% of suicidal psychiatric patients have been previously admitted in a psychiatric ward may indicate that previous hospitalisation is a hierarchic factor related to suicide.