Book contents
- Body Image and Eating Disorders
- Body Image and Eating Disorders
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Contemporary Perspectives in Anthropology, Philosophy, and Psychology on the Human Body: An Introductory Overview
- Part II Brain without Body, Body without Brain, and Contemporary Body Image Disorders
- 2 Body Schema, Body Image, and Hypermodern Alterations
- 3 Alexithymia and Somatizations
- 4 The Myth of the Perfect Body Image, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and Bigorexia
- 5 The Complex Relationship between the Mind, the Body, and the Contemporary Environment
- Part III The Hypermodern Contradictory Relationship with Food
- Part IV Which Possible Horizons? Some Final Considerations
- References
- Index
3 - Alexithymia and Somatizations
from Part II - Brain without Body, Body without Brain, and Contemporary Body Image Disorders
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2022
- Body Image and Eating Disorders
- Body Image and Eating Disorders
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Contemporary Perspectives in Anthropology, Philosophy, and Psychology on the Human Body: An Introductory Overview
- Part II Brain without Body, Body without Brain, and Contemporary Body Image Disorders
- 2 Body Schema, Body Image, and Hypermodern Alterations
- 3 Alexithymia and Somatizations
- 4 The Myth of the Perfect Body Image, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and Bigorexia
- 5 The Complex Relationship between the Mind, the Body, and the Contemporary Environment
- Part III The Hypermodern Contradictory Relationship with Food
- Part IV Which Possible Horizons? Some Final Considerations
- References
- Index
Summary
In the hypermodern era, the ideal to be achieved sometimes seems to be the perfect performance of the “brain without a body" (or better the brain without the limitations of the body). Individuals distance themselves not only from their own mortal body, but also from their emotions, which are experienced within the body: emotions in general are discouraged in our society. Being emotional has become synonymous with being unstable and unbalanced and perhaps it is not by chance that alexithymia is also widespread today. In this regard one must take into account that alexithymia has been indicated as a risk factor for the development of chronic physical problems and somatizations. Theories about alexithymia and its origins are presented, and clinical cases and contemporary scientific studies are analyzed in depth. The question of how these topics are correlated is raised.
- Type
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- Information
- Body Image and Eating DisordersAn Anthropological and Psychological Overview, pp. 42 - 50Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022