Body Dysmorphia Case Study

Clinical History Marya’s experience with body dysmorphia and eating habits developed from an extremely young age. Recalling as far back in her life as age five, Marya had a different relationship with food than the typical child. At age three, Marya recalled hiding in her clothes hamper, claiming she was just the right size to fit perfectly inside of it, and how she wanted to stay that size forever. This particular memory of hers was remembered as if she has been watching herself from an outsiders point of view. This type of memory, or objectification consciousness, is common with patients with eating disorders. Marya described the experience as “perceiving themselves through other eyes, as if there were some Great Observer looking over their shoulder” (Hornbacher 14). Marya’s family situation may have severely impeded her ability to cope healthily with food and body image. Her therapy charts from a young age had stated: “Marya wants to live in a private world … is not open to trusting people … tends to shut people out when they get too close. Hypervigilant. Massive

As Marya Hornbacher states: “We think of bulimia and anorexia as either a bizarre psychosis, or as a quirky little habit, a phase, or as a thing that women just do. We forget that it is a violent act, that it bespeaks a profound level of anger toward and fear of the self” (Hornbacher 123). Eating disorders are a form addiction, and must be treated as such. Treatment such as counseling, hospitalizations, and medications such as antidepressants and antipsychotics are still used today. However, the media has taken great lengths to change their usage of body types, such as discontinuing the use of photoshop to correct stretch marks or fat rolls in models. Changing the social view of body types is one of the first steps in preventing eating disorders altogether (“Eating