Internal body image in patients with eating disorders

According to DSM-IV, in the eating disorders there is a disturbed perception of body image and a non-acceptance of one's physical characteristics (Thomson et al, 1995, Lunnar et al, 2000, van den Berg et al, 2002). The attempt to force the body into stereotypical cultural images is an important strategy to maintain one's self-esteem. This may produce a violent and partial use of the body, so that physiological processes become object 01 exercise of one's self-control and self- discipline, with the need to control the functions digestion and evacuation, and to expel through vomiting and evacuation. Another biological dimension is amenorrhea, related to the refusal of genitality. Previous researches by Amann Gainotti (Amann , 1988, 2001; 2002; Amann Gainotti, et al, 1992; 1993, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c) about inside-of-the-body drawings evidenced a developmental sequence in the spontaneous anatomical notions and a tendency in young adults to produce 'metaforic/simbolic' drawings. The purpose of the present research was to examine, in a comparative perspective, the structure, the contents and the qualitative aspects of the drawings of the inside 01 the body of subjects with eating disorders. The constant worry about physical appearance, and pathological use of the body. could al so determine a distorted representation of one's biologicaI functions. organs and biological systems involved. Subjects 01 the study were a group of 40 anorexic and bulimic women, aged 16 to 38 years, outpatients patients in a specialized structure in Rome. Results. The drawings 01 the inside of the body of the subjects show peculiar features related to their anatomical and physiological worries.