Eating Disorders Blog

An editorial on the website of The Daily Oklahoman reported on efforts by the University of Oklahoma to use the image of a popular doll to raise awareness among both male and female students about the impact of media and consumer images on poor self-esteem and related issues:

Just after swiping your way into the Huston Huffman Center, you'll see a giant woman with breasts that seem larger than her 18-inch waist. The mannequin has the dimensions of a life-sized Barbie doll, decked in a lovely pink jacket and feet. This mannequin exemplifies many of the negative connotations that come from the objectification of women.

Barbie, in this instance, is a warning. Don't try to look like her. It's not healthy and is a "serious emotional and physical problem that can have life-threatening consequences for females and males," according to the National Eating Disorders Association. ...

However, this fails to look at both sides of the spectrum, because men are not represented. Men also are subjected to stereotypes and can suffer from eating and exercise disorders. Men do not need to look like Ken, a monster of muscles and objectification only surpassed in superficiality by his wondrously dim girlfriend. ...

Do not try to look like plastic dolls.

Labels: self-image, self-esteem

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 1 Comment

Dr. Laura Anders spent her childhood and most of her young adult years feeling discontent and guilty about her body shape. A growing number of girls and women share this anxiety and poor self-image, and shes started addressing the problem with a program she calls "body transcendence."

Sandy Thorn Clark of the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Anders's efforts in an April 7 article:

Anders knows all about the anxiety, distress and discontent that mirrors can reflect to a staggering 8 out of 10 women, many of whom are part of a growing population of "healthy weight" or slightly overweight women preoccupied with the shame and guilt associated with feeling fat. ...

Body Transcendence is body transformation through transcendence therapy, an active form of psychotherapy that teaches "healthy weight" women -- a population that has been largely ignored until now, she says -- the skills necessary to help them transcend constant and generally negative thoughts about their bodies.

"I say to women, 'You can either work hard in feeling good about yourself or you can work hard in not feeling good about yourself. It's your choice.' That's not always easy to hear," Anders explains.

The 37-year-old Anders, who has operated a general psychiatric private practice in Chicago's Loop for six years, admits she always has tended to experience "normative discontent" -- or dissatisfaction -- with her body and appearance.

Labels: self-image, self-esteem

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

Women who tell researchers that they have no weight problems and believe they do not struggle with poor body image actually do have issues with self-image, according to a new study from Brigham Young University.

• Dr. Mark Allen, Dr. Diane Spangler and their colleagues compared brain activity of women with eating disorders with a control group of women who said they had no such problems.
• The research team was surprised to see that the control group's brains activated when shown pictures of overweight women.

"When we scanned the women, they actually show that they were very concerned about being overweight or seeing overweight images, where the men were not at all," said Dr. Spangler. "There is so much bombardment of this 'thin ideal' and what your weight should be that it is showing up in the brains of women, even women don't feel like this is a concern for them."

Dr. Allen said that the findings suggest "there is a disconnection between a conscious evaluation of how your body image is and what is really going on, deep down inside, psychologically, and now we can see neurologically."

The study appears in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
 

Labels: self-esteem, body image, women

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 1 Comment

As the oldest daughter of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver, you’d think Katherine Schwarzenegger would have a pretty healthy self-esteem. While that’s true of her now, when she was younger, she struggled with all-too-familiar body image issues.

“’Fourth grade was the first time I really became aware of my body, and really started to compare it to other girls’ bodies, and I think that is what really freaked me out,’ Schwarzenegger says. ‘I didn’t know how to deal with that, and I guess that’s why I kind of broke down.’” - Source: The Orange County Register

After Katherine worked through her struggles, she decided to write about them. Her book, Rock What You’ve Got: Secrets to Loving Your Inner and Outer Beauty, has just been published and she’s started a book tour. Her goal is to let girls know they’re not alone in struggling to adjust as their bodies develop.
 

Labels: self-esteem, body image

Posted By: Eating Disorders Blog 1 Comment

Teenagers with eating disorders should be screened for self-injury behaviors, according to a new study from Stanford University.

Lead author Rebecca Peebles and her colleagues asked young people under treatment for eating disorders at the Lucille Packard Children's Hospital if they had ever harmed themselves intentionally, by cutting, embedding objects under their skin, burning, and other means. Over 40% said they had done so.

Peebles noted that most young patients will not discuss this behavior unless their therapists or doctors ask them about it directly.

"In clinical practice, kids are fairly open when you engage them. They will come in wearing long sleeves or hiding the marks on their inner thighs. But when you ask them directly, they are usually willing to discuss the behavior," she said.

The study appears in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
 

Labels: self-esteem, self-harm

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 1 Comment