Distorted perception of anorexics

The distorted perception of anorexics

23/08/2012

Anorexics can not perceive their bodies realistically. Although the sufferers often lean on a life-threatening underweight, they feel too thick. On the other hand, they can realistically estimate the bodies of other people. A research group has now published a study to find the cause of the distorted perception in the central nervous system of those affected.

Anorexics feel overweight despite underweight
Dewi Guardia from the University Hospital of Lille and her team gave 25 dysfunctional study participants the task of assessing whether they themselves or one of the 25 healthy volunteers passed through a door-like opening. It turned out that patients suffering from anorexia nervosa had a strongly distorted perception of their body, but realistically assessed healthy participants. This was confirmed by earlier studies. The anorexics found themselves too fat to fit through the opening, though it was about the size of a door and more than enough space. „Our results suggest that overestimating the body dimension may affect judgment, but only if it affects the patient's own body“, the researchers write in the journal "Plos One".

The disturbed perception of one's own body could be based, among other things, in the central nervous system of those affected. „The overestimation of the body schema size could occur because the central nervous system has not yet stored the new emaciated body and instead maintains the misrepresentation based on the patient's body before it was anorexic“, explain the scientists. That's why many anorexics believed they had the same weight as before their illness and did not suffer from underweight. (Ag)

Read about:
Underweight: An underestimated health risk
More and more adolescents suffer from anorexia
Losing weight and feeling fatigued
Promote diets eating disorders?
Eating disorders of daughters are often ignored
Eating Disorders through Facebook Usage?

Picture: Stihl016351a2cc0b08c03 / p>