scholarly journals Virtual Reality and Body Experience: a New Approach to the Treatment of Eating Disorders

1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-31
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Riva
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Body Image ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
The Body ◽  
Behavioral Approach ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Cognitive Representations ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environment

Eating Disorders, one of the most common pathologies of the occidental society, have long been associated with alterations in the perceptual/cognitive representations of the body. In fact, a large number of studies have highlighted the fact that the perception of one's own body and the experiences associated with it represent one of the key problems of anorexic, bulimic and obese subjects. The effects have a strong influence on therapy effects: severe body representation disturbance is predictive of treatment failure. However, the treatment of body experience problems is not well defined. Two methods are currently in use: the first is a cognitive/behavioral approach aimed at influencing patients' feelings of dissatisfaction; the second is a visual/motorial approach with the aim of influencing the level of bodily awareness. The Virtual Environment for Body Image Modification (VEBIM), a set of tasks aimed at treating body image, tries to integrate these two therapeutic approaches within an immersive virtual environment. This choice not only makes it possible to intervene simultaneously on all of the forms of bodily representations, but it also uses the psycho-physiological effectsprovoked on the body by the virtual experience for therapeutic purposes. This paper describes the VEBIM theoretical approach and its characteristics. It also presents a study on a preliminary sample (60 normal subjects) to test the efficacy of this approach.

The Virtual Environment for Body-Image Modification (VEBIM): Development and Preliminary Evaluation

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Riva
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Image Disturbance ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Bodily Awareness ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environment ◽  
Body Image Disturbances

The Virtual Environment for Body Image Modification (VEBIM) is a set of tasks aimed at treating body-image disturbances and body dissatisfation associated with eating disorders. Two methods are commonly used to treat body-image disturbance: (1) a cognitive-behavioral therapy to influence patients' feelings of dissatisfaction and (2) a visual-motorial therapy, with the aim of influencing the level of bodily awareness. VEBIM tries to integrate these two therapeutical approaches within an immersive virtual environment. The choice of VEBIM would not only make it possible to intervene simultaneously on all of the forms of bodily representations but also to use for therapeutical purposes the psychophysiological effects provoked on the body by the virtual experience. The paper describes the VEBIM theoretical approach and its characteristics; it also presents a study on a preliminary sample (72 normal subjects) to test the efficacy of this approach.

scholarly journals Formation of the Affective-Cognitive Representation of Body in the Context of Psychosomatic Development

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Y. Chebakova ◽  
R.R. Kharisova ◽  
D. Komolov ◽  
S.N. Enikolopov
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Cognitive Representation ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Cognitive Representations ◽  
Cognitive Components ◽  
Parent Relationships ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
Psychic System

The article describes the phenomenology of health groups, substantiates the possibility of determining the psychosomatic ontogenesis as the formation of affective and cognitive representations of parts of the body in an integrated, systematic intra-psychic system from the perspective of cultural-historical approach and psychoanalytic theory to the study of the specificity of the reflection body experience. The paper presents analysis of the stages’ the forming a representation of the body, the main elements of its affective and cognitive components. Discusses the theoretical and methodological problems of the dynamics of affective and cognitive representation of the body in children and adolescents with various health groups. The problem of psychosomatic dysontogenesis viewed from the perspective of deconstruction and imbalance affective-cognitive components of body representation, as well as factors of child-parent relationships and its role in the formation of a detainee psychosomatic development.

The Role of Hand Size in the Fake-Hand Illusion Paradigm

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p5853 ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1547-1554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Pavani ◽  
Massimiliano Zampini
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Body Schema ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Video Image ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Statistical Correlations ◽  
Hand Size ◽  
Visible Hand

When a hand (either real or fake) is stimulated in synchrony with our own hand concealed from view, the felt position of our own hand can be biased toward the location of the seen hand. This intriguing phenomenon relies on the brain's ability to detect statistical correlations in the multisensory inputs (ie visual, tactile, and proprioceptive), but it is also modulated by the pre-existing representation of one's own body. Nonetheless, researchers appear to have accepted the assumption that the size of the seen hand does not matter for this illusion to occur. Here we used a real-time video image of the participant's own hand to elicit the illusion, but we varied the hand size in the video image so that the seen hand was either reduced, veridical, or enlarged in comparison to the participant's own hand. The results showed that visible-hand size modulated the illusion, which was present for veridical and enlarged images of the hand, but absent when the visible hand was reduced. These findings indicate that very specific aspects of our own body image (ie hand size) can constrain the multisensory modulation of the body schema highlighted by the fake-hand illusion paradigm. In addition, they suggest an asymmetric tendency to acknowledge enlarged (but not reduced) images of body parts within our body representation.

Anorexia Nervosa and Depression in a Woman Blind since the Age of Nine Months

1993 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 469-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford W. Sharp
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Body Image ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Eating Disorder ◽  
Major Depression ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Older Women ◽  
The Body ◽  
Atypical Presentation ◽  
History Of

A woman aged 58 who has been blind since the age of nine months presented with major depression and a 40 year history of an eating disorder characterized by a restriction of food intake and body disparagement. The case is additional evidence that a specifically visual body image is not essential for the development of anorexia nervosa and supports the view that the concept of body image is unnecessary and unproductive in eating disorders. Greater emphasis should be placed on attitudes and feelings toward the body, and the possibility of an eating disorder should be considered in cases of older women with an atypical presentation.

Body Image in Chronic Illness—A Reconceptualization

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Vamos
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Patient Experience ◽  
Classification System ◽  
Chronic Illnesses ◽  
The Body ◽  
Physical Disorder ◽  
Clinical Use ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Disease Specific

Objective: Was to construct a classification system of the body image specifically relevant to patient experience of chronic physical disorder. Method: To review both previous writings on body image and also data on psychosocial factors relevant to a variety of chronic illnesses. From this were derived four component parts of body image: comfort, competence, appearance and predictability. These are discussed in general and disease-specific terms. Results: Using this format, a classification system is offered. This is intended to be simple enough for routine clinical use and yet to offer some insight into body experience. An example is given. Conclusion: Separating out the aspects of body image relevant to physical illness provides a clinically useful classification system. Further work is needed to determine its applicability as a research tool.

Characterization of eating behavior disorders in school-aged children and adolescents: a population-based study

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Márcia Tenório de Souza Cavalcanti ◽  
Ilma Kruze Grande de Arruda ◽  
Emilly Anne Cardoso Moreno de Lima ◽  
Waldemar Brandão Neto ◽  
Estela Maria Leite Meirelles Monteiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Body Image ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
The Body ◽  
Eating Behaviours ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Eating Pattern ◽  
Compulsive Eating ◽  
Restrictive Eating ◽  
School Aged Children

Abstract Objective: Cross-sectional study to assess the characteristics of the risk behaviors for eating disorders (EDs) in school children between 10 and 14 years of age in the city of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Methods: 1405 school-aged children were assessed, using the Eating Behaviours and Body Image Test (EBBIT) to screen for EDs. The normality of the continuing variables was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test with Lilliefors correction. They were described as medians and interquartile intervals (25 and 75th percentiles). Results: The criteria that represented a condition of anorexia and/or bulimia nervosa were considered as strong indicators of risk for EDs in school-aged children who indicated the following behaviors with scores superior to the 75th percentile on the scales: “compulsive eating” 3.0% (CI95% 2.2–4.0); “dissatisfaction with body image/restrictive eating” 1.3% (CI95% 0.8–2.0); children scoring superior to the 30th percentile, “compulsive eating” + “dissatisfaction with body image/restrictive eating”, 0.6% (CI95% 0.3–1.2); and superior to the 50th percentile; “compensatory behavior for hyperphagia” 6.7% (CI95% 5.4–8.1). In addition, greater vulnerability of the female gender was perceived, as well as an increase in the preliminary risk factors of EDs, such as advanced age, dissatisfaction with the body image linked to restrictive behaviors and the compulsive establishment of an eating pattern. Conclusion: This study shows the dimension of the problem in this ecological context and the urgent need for intervention programs, developed among different sectors, from the perspective of the adolescents’ empowerment to prevent and minimize the vulnerability factors of the eating disorders.

scholarly journals Susceptibility to Eating Disorders Among Collegiate Female Student–Athletes

2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 406-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cherilyn N. McLester ◽  
Robin Hardin ◽  
Stephanie Hoppe
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Body Image ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Female Student ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Care Providers

Context: Research has suggested that the prevalence of young women with eating disorders (EDs) is increasing, but determining the exact prevalence of EDs within the female student–athlete (FS-A) population is difficult. Looking at certain traits may help us to identify their level of susceptibility to developing an ED. Objective: To determine the susceptibility of FS-As to EDs in relation to self-concept, including self-esteem and body image. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Athletic training and health centers at National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, II, and III institutions via e-mail questionnaire correspondence. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 439 FS-As from 17 participating institutions completed the questionnaires. The sample was primarily white (83.1%) and underclass (61.8%). Main Outcome Measure(s): The questionnaire consisted of 4 parts: 3 subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Body Cathexis Scale, and demographic items. Results: A total of 6.8% of FS-As were susceptible to anorexia and 1.8% were susceptible to bulimia. The majority of FS-As (61%) reported normal self-esteem levels, whereas 29.4% had high self-esteem. Overall, 64.5% were satisfied and 23% were very satisfied with their body image. Conclusions: These results are generally positive in that they suggest FS-As have high levels of self-concept and are at low risk to develop EDs. However, these findings do not mean that all concerns should be dismissed. Although more than 90% of the respondents were not susceptible to an ED, there are still FS-As who may be. Athletic departments should evaluate their FS-As' levels of self-concept so that their susceptibility to EDs can be addressed. The emotional aspect of health care should be included in providing holistic care for student–athletes. Athletic trainers often are the primary health care providers for FS-As, so they should be made aware of this concern.

Body image and eating disorders are common in professional and amateur athletes using performance and image-enhancing drugs (pieds). A cross-sectional study

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S144-S144
Author(s):  
D. Piacentino ◽  
L. Longo ◽  
A. Pavan ◽  
S. Ferracuti ◽  
R. Brugnoli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Body Image ◽  
Body Dysmorphic Disorder ◽  
The Body ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Amateur Athletes ◽  
Image Enhancing ◽  
Psychopathological Disorders

IntroductionThe use of Performance and Image-Enhancing Drugs (PIEDs) is on the increase and appears to be associated with several psychopathological disorders, whose prevalence in unclear.Objectives/AimsWe aimed to evaluate the differences–if any–in the prevalence of body image disorders (BIDs) and eating disorders (EDs) in PIEDs users athletes vs. PIEDs nonusers ones.MethodsWe enrolled 84 consecutive professional and amateur athletes (35.8% females; age range = 18–50), training in several sports centers in Italy. They underwent structured interviews (SCID I/SCID II) and completed the Body Image Concern Inventory (BICI) and the Sick, Control, One, Fat, Food Eating Disorder Screening Test (SCOFF). Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test were used for comparisons.ResultsOf the 84 athletes, 18 (21.4%) used PIEDs. The most common PIEDs were anabolic androgenic steroids, amphetamine-like substances, cathinones, ephedrine, and caffeine derivatives (e.g. guarana). The two groups did not differ in socio-demographic characteristics, but differed in anamnestic and psychopathological ones, with PIEDs users athletes being characterized by significantly (P-values < 0.05) higher physical activity levels, consuming more coffee, cigarettes, and psychotropic medications (e.g. benzodiazepines) per day, presenting more SCID diagnoses of psychiatric disorders, especially Substance Use Disorders, Eating Disorders, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), and General Anxiety Disorders, showing higher BICI scores, which indicate a higher risk of BDD, and higher SCOFF scores, which suggest a higher risk of BIDs and EDs.ConclusionsIn PIEDs users athletes body image and eating disorders, and more in general psychopathological disorders, are more common than in PIEDs nonusers athletes.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Body Image and its Disorders

1974 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franklin C. Shontz
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Behavioral Treatment ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Psychotherapeutic Techniques ◽  
Body Organ ◽  
Body Image Disorder ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
The Individual

The body image is not a body organ, a psychological picture, or a little-person-in-the-head. It is best described in terms of the functions it serves and the levels at which it is experienced. The body functions as a sensory register, an instrument for action, a source of drives, a stimulus to the self and others, a private world, and an expressive instrument. The four levels of body experience are schemata, self, fantasy, and concept. A complete description of a body image disorder identifies the source of the disorder and its effects on the functions and levels of experience. Behavioral treatment for body image disorder may develop basic sensory-motor capacities, teach specific skills, promote interpersonal relations with others having similar problems, or use traditional psychotherapeutic techniques, depending upon the needs of the individual patient.

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