COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 14, 2004 (UPI.) -- Just being unhappy with their bodies is not enough to lead most women into eating disorders -- it takes additional factors, U.S. researchers have found. Ohio State University researchers said women are more likely to have eating disorders when their body dissatisfaction is accompanied by other issues, such as a tendency to examine their bodies obsessively and think about how they appear to others. The findings help clarify a long-running issue that has complicated the problem of identifying women at risk for eating disorders, the researchers said. Though studies have shown body dissatisfaction is strongly related to the development of eating disorders, there are many women who express dissatisfaction with their bodies but who do not have symptoms of disordered eating. "Body dissatisfaction is so prevalent among women in our society that it isn't very useful in identifying women who may have eating disorders," said Tracy Tylka, author of the study and assistant professor of psychology. "About 3 to 8 percent of women have some type of eating disorder," Tylka said. "But many women -- maybe most women -- are dissatisfied with their bodies." (Tracy Tilka, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Psychology at The Ohio State University, Marion, OH Campus.)
Dr. Tylka's last sentence---"...maybe most women -- are dissatisfied with their bodies."---struck me hard, not because of it's content but because of the gender of the speaker. I have rarely, if ever, heard a woman admit that a body image neurosis (my term for inappropriate and excessive pre-occupation with the appearance of one's body) is virtually endemic for women. I believe Dr. Tylka is absolutely correct in her observation and I'm heartened that, being a woman, Dr. Tilka will enjoy success in disseminating her useful findings to the rest of womanhood to a degree that a male could not. On this issue, women trust opinions from other women far more than a man's.
My clinical experience on this matter is overall rather a sad one...I saw far too many healthy, normal and attractive women who were consumed with (again, my term) Body Image Neurosis. I'm not taking credit for this term, neurosis was a long-used term, long ago, and body image--- whatever, psychosis or neurosis...---is even older, as a psychiatric term. But, the term I use seems to fit the presentation of the patient, at least to me.
Neurosis :
There was a time where everybody was portrayed as neurotic. Back in the fifties, there were actors and actresses who won acclaim for their neurotic portrayals. (See Montgomery Clift & Elizabeth Taylor in Suddenly Last Summer, or Elizabeth, again, with hubby Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?) They fretted and worried all the time, dug too deep into their motives (their own and each others') and dredged up the same insight over and over and over...
