Body Image Disturbance in Anorexia Nervosa

							Body Image Disturbance in Anorexia
Nervosa




    By Meghan Montgomery
Main Topics Covered


   Factors that contribute to body
    image disturbance

   Techniques to treat body image
    disorders
Introduction
   Thin Cycle
    Negative body image, harsh self-criticism.
    While mirrors may not lie, women's
    perceptions of their bodies can fluctuate
    dramatically. Whether the source of these
    distortions is the result of cultural
    pressures put on women to be thin or
    possible medical or psychological
    conditions, experts agree something is
    skewing--even distorting--many women's
    sense of reality.
Body Image Disturbance…
Defined
        Central concept in eating disorder
         pathology

        Includes cognitive, behavioral,
         affective, and perceptual components
Quiz
   How Do You Shape Up?
   TRUE/FALSE
    1. I rarely talk negatively about my body.
    2. I do not weigh myself more than once a week.
    3. If appearance did not matter in our society, I would still
    exercise the same amount that I do now.
    4. I rarely compare my looks or body to others.
    5. I rarely feel guilty or anxious after eating high fat food.
    6. I can accept a compliment about my appearance.
    7. If I had to do things that were unhealthy (fasting, taking
    laxatives, throwing up) in order to change my weight, I would
    choose NOT to do them.
    8. I feel happy or content, for the most part, with my life at
    this time.
    9. I wouldn't panic if I gained a few pounds.
    10. For the most part, I am satisfied with my current body
    shape and size.
Warning Signs

 • No matter how much weight you lose, you still view
 your body as unacceptable or too big.
 • Do people describe your size in a significantly
 different way than you do?
 • You have difficulty accepting compliments about how
 good you look or how thin you are.
 • You feel large/fatter on days when you are upset,
 and smaller/thinner on days when you feel good.
 • You feel significantly heavier or thinner from day to
 day, although realistically you know your body couldn't
 have changed drastically overnight.
 • After feeling fine emotionally and physically during
 part of a day, something goes wrong and you react by
 suddenly feeling fat and or unattractive.
How would one fall prey to body image
disturbance?


   Teasing about appearance*
   Biological status
   Early Maturation
   Media pressures and unrealistic
    expectations
   Personality Traits
Media Pressures
   Eating disorders “glorified”? How?
       39 female university students
       24 magazine advertisements comprised 12 body-
        related & 12 non-body-related products (½ w/, ½
        w/o idealized images)
       Pre exposure & post exposure body shame &
        appearance anxieties
       Results: Exposure to idealized images lead to
        increased body shame and appearance anxiety

   “Exposure to media-portrayed idealized images
    focuses attention on the body, and encourages
    scrutiny of the acceptability of its shape and size.”
What about from the scientific
perspective?
   Objective: Women with AN have an
    inappropriately fatter body image in the
    left cerebral hemisphere (LH) than in the
    right cerebral hemisphere
   Method: Conducted a divided visual field
    experiment. Women with AN and control
    group were shown distorted and
    undistorted pictures of themselves and
    Jamie Lee Curtis in the left and right
    visual fields-they judged the pictures as
    thinner than, equal to, or fatter than
    actual body size
Brain Lateralization Paradigm Helpful in
Understanding Body Image
Disturbance in AN?
   Results: Obviously, AN participants had fatter
    perceptions of themselves and they responded
    quicker with LH than RH. However, fewer thinner
    distortions were judged as equal to their own
    body size and slower with LH than RH. Controls
    showed no hemispheric differences with
    themselves as AN participants showed none with
    Jamie Lee Curtis. Findings were accurate of those
    who had AN in the past rather than current.
   Summary: AN patients had a quicker distorted
    image with left side than right side!
Here is where my passion comes in…

   Rather than having to put all of
    your efforts into treatment, why not
    try prevention and promoting
    positive mental health awareness

   How can we do this? Try to balance
    what society throws at us!
Implications of Themes in Health
Promotion

   1. Strategies to alert individuals about
 body image and appropriate eating
 behavior
  ie) Media campaigns and distribution of
    written materials
  2. Professional education
  3. Research
  4. Advocate change in fashion,
    advertising, and media industry
Limits of Treatments
   Many do not work…research being done
       Ex) European Eating Disorder Review, 8, 19-
        30. (2000) Body Awareness Therapy in
        Teenage Anorexia Nervosa: Outcome after two
        Years.
          BAT-education of body and functions,
           massage, exercise dealing with coordination of
           body movements, and relaxation exercises
          No difference between this and basic family
           therapy
          My conclusion: We need a dramatic change
           throughout society!
One Philosophy: The Three A’s

   Attention: Listening for and
    responding to internal cues (ex.
    Hunger, satiety, and fatigue)
   Appreciation: Appreciating the
    pleasures your body can provide
   Acceptance: Accept what is-rather
    than longing for what is not
Limitations
   Many studies stated the obvious
   Not too much new information
   Very general studies pointing to the
    same things (not too much
    specifics)
   Caused me to want to research
    differences in cultures and
    implications of eating disorders
    (race, socioeconomic status)
Summary
   Body Image Disturbance is
    caused by various factors such as
    teasing, media, maturation,
    personality traits, and possibly
    some new scientific studies
   Treatments are limited at this
    point but with further scientific
    evidence the problem may be
    narrowed down further
References
   Monro, F., Huon, G. (2005). Media-Portrayed Idealized
    Images, Body Shame, & Appearance Anxiety. Int J Eat Disord
    38:85-90.
   Moulding, N. & Hepworth, J. (2001). Understanding Body
    Image Disturbance in the Promotion of Mental Health: A
    Discourse Analytic Study. Journey of Community and Applied
    Social Psychology 11:305-317.
   Smeets, M.A. & Kosslyn, S.M. (2001). Hemispheric
    Differences In Body Image In Anorexia Nervosa.
   Thompson, J.K., Coovert M.D., & Stormer S.M. (1998).
   Sheffield, J.K., Tse, K.H., & Sofronoff, K. (2005). Comparison
    of Body-Image Dissatisfaction among Australian and Hong
    Kong Women. Eur. Eat Disorders Rev. 13:112-124.
   http://www.msnbc.com/onair/nbc/dateline/thincycle/thinquiz.
    asp?cp1=1
   http://www.edreferral.com/body_image.htm#what%20is%20
    body%20image