Disturbing body image | |
Disorders of body image. D J Castle, K A Phillips (editors). Petersfield, UK: Wrightson Biomedical, 2002 (xii+164pp). ISBN 1 871816 47 5. |
The issue of disordered
body image is highly relevant to our narcissistic, image-obsessed culture and this makes a concise volume, with a careful selection of chapters dealing with various aspects of this topic, very timely.
The book offers the reader an examination of body image disturbances associated with various psychiatric diagnoses including eating disorders. There is also a comprehensive coverage of body dysmorphic disorder including cognitive behavioural therapy strategies in its management and psychoneuropharmacology. The chapter on body image in childhood and adolescence is particularly interesting. Its sociocultural perspective extends to the changing shapes of Luke Skywalker and GI Joe dolls — apparently it is not only their muscles which have enlarged with the passage of time. As it was with Barbie, hyper-reality seems to be at work here, giving rise to conjecture about body image implications for the impressionable young in whom prepubertal anorexia nervosa is not only on the rise but is almost equally distributed between genders. By way of contrast the chapter on eating disorders takes a biological tack, questioning the primacy of body image disturbance in eating disorders, looking at the neurobiology of its acquisition and the role of its serotonergic mechanisms. Other areas covered include related anthropology, neurology, cosmetic surgery and dermatological aspects, and an exploration of disgust and the self. This compact and attractively presented publication will be of interest to psychiatrists, mental health workers, cosmetic surgeons, dermatologists and general practitioners who will all find it clinically relevant. It should also appeal to the educated lay person seeking a masterly overview of a fascinating subject area. Janice D Russell
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