The Root Cause of Body Image Distortion

These last two posts outlined some of the causes of body image distortion and how one’s mind can latch onto these self-images. The power of negative body image feels like a truth, a rite of passage passed down from mothers to daughters or within communities.

Because this component of eating disorders is a culturally accepted norm, changing the root of the distortion is exponentially more difficult. The outside world continues to state that thinness is a virtue, if not an accomplishment. Among women, telling one another “you look like you’ve lost weight” is still the ultimate compliment.

The task for the clinician of convincing a patient that the goal of thinness, a central part of society, is somehow false is a tall order. A therapist may be able to work against eating disorder thoughts that tell people to starve or binge and purge, but it’s a much more difficult goal to contradict the belief that women need to focus on weight loss as a sign of success.

This contradiction comes up in recovery very regularly. Even the most educated and supportive families struggle not to question their child’s meal plan and become afraid of too much weight gain. Even after years of watching their family member suffer with an eating disorder, the overall pressure for thinness can often override a person’s general health and wellness.

The drive for thinness leads to dieting, the most significant risk factor for developing an eating disorder, and also makes recovery more difficult because of the pressure not to gain weight, even if that’s necessary to get well. Trapped on both sides, people often feel most stuck because of body image distortion in their recovery. This is the last element of the illness that gets better.

Ultimately, body image distortion will only change when the cultural norm changes, something well beyond the lone clinician’s ability. This focus on weight remains a curse in our lives and especially women’s lives. Nothing will change unless the people most affected find a way to band together and insist on those changes. Life has to be more important than weight.