Licorexia

Licorexia, wolfish appetite, pathological craving to consume excessively large quantities of food, a phenomenon often observed in mentally deficient and mentally ill individuals with various forms of diseases (idiocy, progressive paralysis, senile dementia, schizophrenia, etc.); in this case, some patients often without any discrimination consume all kinds of food in the most inappropriate combinations and in an unusual order, for example, sweet food together with salty food, etc., a circumstance that often leads to vomiting. These cases must be distinguished from special forms of constant craving for food (sitiomania, or esthio-mania), which is one type of obsessive-compulsive states (see); in these, the primary factor is not increased appetite, but the desire to perform the eating procedure as often as possible. See also Bulimia.