Psychiatry in the flesh. Embodiment of troubled lives. Studies of anorexia nervosa and eating disorders.

Abstract

Body and mind – new perspectives on eating disorders<br><br>

In this doctoral dissertation the author focuses on models of understanding of how body and mind might interact in eating disorders, with particular emphasis on anorexia nervosa. The thesis ”Psychiatry in the flesh. Embodiment of troubled lives. Studies of anorexia nervosa and eating disorders” is based on six scientific articles which all have been published in referee-based psychiatric journals. <br> Three of these scientific papers describe how people with anorexia nervosa embody their emotions. Such bodily concretization of emotional life is described as a central psychopathological trait, and in this dissertation is termed “impaired mentalising competence”. Such an approach represents a new intellectual framework for the understanding of such disorders. The dissertation also presents an outline for mentalisation-based treatment as a new therapeutic approach to anorexia nervosa.<br> A fourth paper describes how different forms of shame affects are central to the psychopathology of persons qualifying for the diagnosis anorexia nervosa. A fifth paper investigates and discusses how clients in child care institutions report about self esteem, body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms, with particular emphasis on boys’ experiences. Based on data the article concludes with the necessity of increased focus on male experiences about body and food in general, and more specifically on boys in risk populations.<br> A sixth and last paper presents an explorative study where female patients with severe anorexia were given a time-limited program for Adapted Physical Activity (APA). The aim of the study was to investigate how social interactions in activities could move negative attention from the objectified anorectic body to a more profound and subjective experience of one’s own body. The concluding proposal is that APA may represent a therapeutic access to anorexia, as a supplement to psychotherapy.