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16 results

  • Chapter 5 - The Ideal of the Perfect Body

  • from Section 1 - From Exercise to Addiction: An Introduction to the Phenomenon
  • Edited by Ornella Corazza, University of Hertfordshire and University of Trento, Italy, Artemisa Rocha Dores, Polytechnic Institute of Porto and University of Porto, Portugal
  • Book:
    The Body in the Mind
    Published online:
    30 March 2023
    Print publication:
    06 April 2023, pp 77-92

  • Summary

    Sociocultural theories of body image propose that different societies have different conceptions of the ideal body shape. Within contemporary Westernized cultures, advertisements, the Internet, and social media networks promote particular assumptions about what constitutes the ‘ideal’ body, and thus exert a strong social pressure to achieve such a body shape. Individuals go to great lengths to achieve and maintain a body image that corresponds to these archetypes of ‘beauty’, which are reinforced as having a superior social value. Such social ideals of beauty are often entirely unrealistic, and can result in body dissatisfaction, appearance anxiety, body image disorder, low self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. Attempts to attain the ideal body can lead to excessive behaviours, such as compulsive exercising, the use of image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs), and eating disorders. This chapter focuses on excessive exercising and the use of IPEDs, and how these behaviours relate to distress about body image.

  • Chapter 11 - Being Versus Appearing: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

  • from Section 2 - Reaching the Extreme with Exercise: A Collection of Clinical Case Studies
  • Edited by Ornella Corazza, University of Hertfordshire and University of Trento, Italy, Artemisa Rocha Dores, Polytechnic Institute of Porto and University of Porto, Portugal
  • Book:
    The Body in the Mind
    Published online:
    30 March 2023
    Print publication:
    06 April 2023, pp 163-170

  • Summary

    We are living in an era in which appearance and body image can become the main focus of thoughts and behaviours, resulting in physical, psychological, and social suffering, about which patients, health professionals, and organizations may or may not have insight. This chapter presents the case of a 32-year-old man with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) who presented for a psychiatric consultation because he believed that his current psychotropic medication was preventing him from achieving his desired body shape. Exercise had become such an overwhelming preoccupation that it was having negative effects on the other areas of his life, and thus required intervention. Possible etiological and maintenance factors, in particular excessive and dysfunctional exercise behaviours (exercise addiction), were explored. Remission of symptoms only occurred after psychotherapy was included as part of the intervention, demonstrating the positive effects of a treatment plan that combines pharmacology with other therapeutic approaches.

The Body in the Mind
  • Exercise Addiction, Body Image and the Use of Enhancement Drugs
  • Edited by Ornella Corazza, Artemisa Rocha Dores
  • Published online:
    30 March 2023
    Print publication:
    06 April 2023
  • In a society that strives for appearance, fitness is increasingly viewed as a means to reach a certain aesthetic ideal, rather than a way to improve health and physical performance. Every day millions of posts appear on social media promoting a visual representation of apparently fit, healthy and 'perfect' bodies. Combining personal accounts, clinical cases, and scientific research, this book explores how such new trends in society can lead to the development of exercise addiction and body image disorders. It explains how such a concern with physical appearance can act as a precursor or be symptomatic of other conditions, such as eating disorders, mood disorders, and the use of performance and image enhancing drugs. It highlights throughout the importance of raising awareness amongst health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses, social workers and primary care physicians, of this growing challenge to prevent harm and improve treatment.