Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

International Handbook of Human Response to Trauma pp 163–177Cite as

Body Image and Body Recovery

  • Chapter

  • 674 Accesses

Part of the book series: Springer Series on Stress and Coping ((SSSO))

Abstract

This chapter explores the psychological aspects of bodily recovery and body image. My thinking developed from my work with women who survived sexual abuse and/or who suffer from eating disorders. It is predicated on the idea that improved bodily selfesteem can enhance physiological and psychological recovery. The material presented here provides ways to think about the mind and body in relation to trauma and body image. Different traumas violate the body in different ways. Surviving incest is not the same as surviving an accident; each has its own particular process of physical and psychological recovery. What I think may be the same, whatever the kind of trauma, is the emotional response. The raw emotions activated are probably akin to those evoked in early infancy if only the recovery template could be pinpointed. Visceral responses to trauma leave residues in which the obvious, the obscure, the visible, and the invisible are all merged. Weir Mitchell’s (1872) classic account of phantom limbs and reflex paralysis, based on work with patients injured in the American Civil War, exemplifies the visible, noticeable traumas, whereas Terry Waite (1994), a British hostage held in Beirut, wrote after his return of the “lingering sense of isolation.” Each speaks to the overwhelming sense of disassociation induced by trauma.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Ahmad, S., Waller, G., & Verduyn, C. (1994). Eating attitudes and body satisfaction among Asian and Caucasian adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 17(5), 461–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of psychiatric disorders, 4, DSM-IV (p.236). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anzieu, D. (1990a). Formal signifiers and the ego skin. In D. Anzieu (Ed.), Psychic envelopes (pp. 1–55). London: Karnac.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anzieu, D. (1990b). Skin for thought: Interviews with Gilbert Tarrab. London: Karnac.

    Google Scholar 

  • Argyle, M., & Henderson, M. (1985). The anatomy of social relationships. London: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckman, K. A., & Burns, G. L. (1990). Relation of sexual abuse and bulimia in college women. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 9, 487–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blagden, S., & Everett, J. (1992). What colour is the wind? Bristol: NSEAD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blagden, S. (1997). Personal communication with author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boal, A. (1995). The rainbow of desire. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broom, B. (1997). Somatic illness and the patient’s other story. London: Free Association Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruch, H. (1982). The golden cage:The enigma of anorexia nervosa. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calam, R., & Slade, P. (1989). Sexual experience and eating problems in female undergraduates. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 8, 391–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cash, T. (1991). Body image therapy: A programme for self-directed change. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cash, T., & Pruzinsky, T. (1990). Body images: Development deviance and change. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conger, J. (1994). The body in recovery. Berkeley, CA: Frog Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costin, C. (1996). Body image disturbance in eating disorders and sexual abuse. In M. Schwartz & L. Cohn (Eds.), Sexual abuse and eating disorders (pp. 109–128). New York: Brunner/Mazel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Danieli, Y (1999). International handbook of multigenerational legacies of trauma. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, M. (1982). Personal communication with author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairburn, C. G. (1992). Sexual abuse and eating disorders. Presented at the 11th National Conference on Eating Disorders, Columbus, Ohio.

    Google Scholar 

  • Femadez-Arranda, F. (1996). Does additional body-image therapy improve the treatment of anorexia nervosa? A comparison of two different approaches. Presented at European Council for Eating Disorders, Dublin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folsom, V., Krahn, D. D., Canum, K. K., Gold, L., & Silk, K. R. (1989). Sex abuse: Role in eating disorders. New research program abstracts: 142nd Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. (1927). Footnote added to The ego & the id (1923). In On metapsychology: The theory of psychoanalysis (p.364). London: Pelican.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freund, P. (1990). The expressive body: A common ground for the sociology of emotions and health and illness. Sociology of Health and Illness, 12(4), 454–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garwood, A. (1996). The Holocaust and the power of powerlessness: Survivor guilt an unhealed wound. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 13(2), 243–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory-Bills, E. T. (1990). Eating disorders and their correlates in earlier episodes of incest. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Houston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, M. (1990). An ecological view of psychological trauma. Unpublished manuscript, Cambridge Hospital. Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herman, J. (1992). Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzog, D. B., Stanley, J. E., Carmody, S., Robbins, W. M, & van der Kolk, B. A. (1993). Child sexual abuse in anorexia nervosa and bulima. Journal of American Academic Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32(b), 962–966.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hornyak, L., & Baker, E. (1994). Experiential therapies for eating disorders. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson, M. G. (1994). Imagining ourselves whole: A feminist approach in treating body image disorders. In P. Fallon, M. Katzman, & S. Wooley (Eds.), Feminist perspectives on eating disorders (pp. 152–168). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keane, T. (1991). Interview, January 1991. In Herman (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreuger, D. (1989). The body self and the psychological self. New York: Brunner/Mazel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leff, J., Kuipers, L., Berkowitz, R., Eberlein-Fries, R., & Sturgeon, D. (1982). A controlled trial of social intervention in the families of schizophrenics. British Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 121–134.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leon, G. K., Lucas, A. R., Ferdinand, R. F., Mangelsdorf, C, & Colligan, R. C. (1987). Attitudes about sexuality and other psychological characteristics as predictors of follow up status in anorexia nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 6(4), 477–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDougall, J. (1989). Theaters of the body. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane, A. C. (1989, June). Blindness and anorexia nervosa. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 34(b), 431–433.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neziroglu, F., & Hsia, C. (1999). Incidence of abuse in person with body dismorphic disorder. Paper presented in Istanbul 1999 ESTSS (European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies).

    Google Scholar 

  • Orbach, S. (1978). Fat is a feminist issue. London: Arrow.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, R. L., Oppenheimer, R., Dignon, A., & Chaloner, D. A. (1990). Childhood sexual experiences with adults reported by women with eating disorders: An extended series. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 699–703.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pines, D. (1992). A woman’s unconscious use of her body. London: Virago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pope, H. G., & Hudson, K. I. (1992). Is childhood sexual abuse a risk factor for bulimia nervosa? American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 455–463.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Probst, M. (1995). Treatment and research on body image experience. Presented at European Council for Eating Disorders, Dublin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyle, R. L. (1992). Physical and sexual abuse in bulimia nervosa. Track Workshop presented at 11th National Conference on Eating Disorders, Columbus, Ohio.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raphael-Leff, J. (1994). Imaginative bodies of childbearing: Visions and revisions. In A. Erskine & D. Judd (Eds.), The imaginative body. London: Whurr.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S. The inventory of breath (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S., Dare, C, Lieberman, S., & Curry, A. (1998). Counting the cash. In W. Vandereycken & P. Beumont (Eds.), The treatment of eating disorders: Personal, ethical & legal issues in the treatment of eating disorders. London: Athlone Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, J., Reiter, J., & Orosan, P. (1994). Assessment of body image in eating disorder with the body dysmorphic examination. Behavioural Research Therapy, 33(1), 77–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sacks, O. (1985). The disembodied lady. In The man who mistook his wife for a hat. London: Picador.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandler, J., & Dare, C. (1970). The psychoanalytic concept of orality. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 14, 211–222.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, U., Tiller, J., & Treasure, J. (1993). Setting the scene for eating disorders: childhood care, classification and course of illness. Psychological Medicine, 22(3), 663–672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharpe, E. (1940). Psychophysical problems revealed in language: An examination of metaphor. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 21, 201–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherrington, C. S. (1940). Man on his nature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shutzenberger, A. A. (1998). The ancestor syndrome. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, D. (1988). The interpersonal world of the infant. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tauber, Y. (1998). In the other chair: Holocaust survivors and second generation therapists as clients. Jerusalem: Gefen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tauber, Y. (1999). Personal communication based on paper Who tells the story? Compound personality in child survivors. Paper presented at Mastericht in 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, J. K., Penner, L. A., & Altabe, N.M. (1990). Procedures, problems in the assessment of body images. In T. F. Cash & D. Pruzinsky (Eds.), Body images development, deviance and change. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, G. (1989). The compulsion to repeat trauma: Re-enactment, re-victimisation and masochism. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 12(2), 235–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, G. (1999). The development of affect regulation. Paper presented at 6th European Conference on Traumatic Stress.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, G., McFarlane, A., & Weisaeth, L. (1996). Traumatic stress. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanderlinden, J., & Vandereycken, W. (1996). Is sexual abuse a risk factor in developing an eating disorder? In M. Schwartz & L. Cohn (Eds.), Sexual abuse and eating disorders (pp. 17–23). New York: Brunner/Mazel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner-Lampl, A., & Oliver, G. W. (1988). Bringing imagery into the world of visual impairment. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, Nov., 373–377.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waite, T. (1994). Taken on trust. London: Coronet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waller, G. (1992). Sexual abuse and bulimic symptoms in eating disorders: Do family interaction and self esteem explain the links? International Journal of Eating Disorders, 12(3), 235–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weir Mitchell, S. (1872). Injuries of nerves (Drover, repr. 1965), cited in Sacks, O. (1985). The disembodied lady. In The man who mistook his wife for a hat. London: Picador.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wooley, S. (1994). Sexual abuse and eating disorders. In P. Fallon, M. Katzman, & S. Wooley, Feminist perspectives on eating disorders. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wooley, S., & Kearney-Cooke, A. (1986). Intensive treatment of bulimia and body image disturbance. In J. C. Hansen & J. E. Harkaway (Eds.), Eating disorders: Physiology, psychology, and treatment of obesity, anorexia and bulimia. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychiatry, London and Heathlands Mental Health Trust, London, W6 7HH, England

    Sue Robinson

Authors
  1. Sue Robinson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel

    Arieh Y. Shalev

  2. Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA

    Rachel Yehuda

  3. Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia

    Alexander C. McFarlane

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Robinson, S. (2000). Body Image and Body Recovery. In: Shalev, A.Y., Yehuda, R., McFarlane, A.C. (eds) International Handbook of Human Response to Trauma. Springer Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4177-6_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4177-6_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6873-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4177-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation