Guest Author - Carolyn Chambers Clark, RN, EdD

What is body image?

The mental picture you develop of your physical self is called, body image. Body image involves perception, imagination, emotions, and physical sensations of and about our bodies. Its ever changing; sensitive to changes in mood, environment, and physical experience. It is not based on fact. It is psychological in nature, and much more influenced by self-esteem than by actual physical attractiveness as judged by others. It is not inborn, but learned.

How does body image develop?

Body image learning occurs in the family and among peers, but these only reinforce what is learned and expected culturally.

Infants get a sense of what belongs to them by moving body parts, looking at them, smelling them, tasting them, listening to body sounds, touching their body and observing what happens when the body comes into contact with other objects.

Parental anxiety about body exploration may be interpreted by the child as "my body is bad," or "I am bad." If severe anxiety or panic is aroused, the child may repress or dissociate a part of the body and it may not be included in the body image.

Infants need to be held and their bodies accepted as valuable, and to be allowed to move and explore themselves and their environment to develop a positive body image.

Young children who are not allowed to explore their environment cannot learn definite body boundaries or a stable, consistent body image. A child whose body does not conform to the body build or behavior that is thought to be appropriate for his or her gender may have some body image confusion.

Adolescents have to face peer pressure to conform to body size and shape and this can lead to a distorted body image in those who cannot conform.

A significant task of adulthood is intimacy. When sexual union is not fused with psychological union, problems of body image and self-concept can develop. During pregnancy, women must cope with continual changes in their bodies while the expectant father has to deal with changes in his partner's body, and less personal attention as the mother-to-be (and later, mother) spends more time with her infant or taking care of her body for delivery.

In middle age, women struggle with body changes due to menopause while men and women may feel inadequate in comparison to the young adult. Attempts to stay young often crop up.

Older adults may fear death, the decline of physical powers, wrinkles, loss of hair or teeth.

Events such as accident, trauma, implants, artificial appliances, surgery, chronic illness, hospitalization, and more can affect body image.

Throughout life, clothes, jewelry, and body adornments become part of body image. Glasses, a cane, a wheelchair or prosthesis can be incorporated into the body image.

In this culture, women starve themselves, their children and loved ones, gorge themselves and their children and loved ones, alternate between starving and gorging, purging, obsessing, and all the while hating, pounding and wanting to remove that which makes us female: our bodies, our curves, our pear-shaped selves.

The growth of cosmetic surgery is an indicant that many people, primarily women are not satisfied with their bodies. The work of feminist object relations theorists such as Susie Orbach (author of Fat is a Feminist Issue, and Hunger Strike: Anorexia as a Metaphor for Our Age) and those at The Women's Therapy Centre Institute (authors of Eating Problems: a Feminist Psychoanalytic Treatment Model) has demonstrated a relationship between the development of personal boundaries and body image. Personal boundaries are the physical and emotional borders around us. A concrete example of a physical boundary is our skin. It distinguishes between that which is inside you and that which is outside you. On a psychological level, a person with strong boundaries might be able to help out well in disasters- feeling concerned for others, but able to keep a clear sense of who they are. Someone with weak boundaries might have sex with inappropriate people, forgetting where they end and where others begin. Such a person way not feel "whole" when alone.

Our psychological boundaries develop early in life, based on how we are held and touched (or not held and touched). A person who is deprived of touch as an infant or young child, for example, may not have the sensory information needed to distinguish between what is inside self and what is outside. As a result, boundaries may be unclear or unformed. This could cause the person to have difficulty getting an accurate sense of body shape and size. This person might also have difficulty eating, because they might have trouble sensing the physical boundaries of hunger and fullness or satiation. On the other extreme, a child who is sexually or physically abused may feel terrible pain and shame or loathing associated with the body. Such a person might use food or starvation to continue the physical punishments they grew familiar with in childhood.

How to develop a healthy body image

* Draw a picture of yourself. What does your picture tell you about your body image?

* Make a list of any losses or changes you've endured. Take the time to grieve for them. This will help you develop a more healthy body image.

* Listen to your body. Eat only when you are hungry, not when you are anxious, angry, or guilty.

* Be realistic about the size you are likely to be based on your genetic and environmental history.

*Exercise regularly in an enjoyable way, regardless of your size. It will make you feel better about yourself and enhance your health.

*Expect normal weekly and monthly changes in weight and shape. Use how your clothes fit, not how many pounds you weigh as your gauge for your body.

*Work towards self acceptance and self forgiveness. Be gentle with yourself. You are who you are.

*Ask for support and encouragement from friends and family when life is stressful.

*Decide how you wish to spend your energy -- pursuing the "perfect body image" or enjoying family, friends, school and, most importantly, life.