Body image is a complex construct, often used in the clinical context of describing a patient's cognitive perception of their own body. The medical concept began with the work of the Austrian neuropsychiatrist and psychoanalyst

Paul Schilder Paul Ferdinand Schilder (February 15, 1886, Vienna – December 7, 1940, New York City) was an Austrian psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and medical researcher. Neurological research work (in both neurophysiology and neuropathology), coupled with an a ...

, described in his book ''The Image and Appearance of the Human Body'' first published in 1935. The term “body image” was officially introduced by Schilder himself and his widely used definition is: “body image is the picture of our own body we form in our mind, that is to say the way in which the body appears to ourselves”. In research with the term “body image” we currently refer to a conscious mental representation of one’s own body, which involves affects, attitudes, perceptual components and cognition. On the contrary the term “

body schema Body schema is a concept used in several disciplines, including psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, sports medicine, and robotics. The neurologist Sir Henry Head originally defined it as a postural model of the body that actively organizes and m ...

” was initially used to describe an unconscious body mental representation fundamental for action. Keizer and colleagues (2013) suggest the following definition: “ ody schema isan unconscious, sensorimotor, representation of the body that is invoked in action. In light of recent scientific developments regarding the

multisensory integration Multisensory integration, also known as multimodal integration, is the study of how information from the different sensory modalities (such as sight, sound, touch, smell, self-motion, and taste) may be integrated by the nervous system. A coherent r ...

of body sensations, the distinction between body image and body schema appears simplistic and probably no longer useful for scientific research and clinical purposes.

Clinical significance

In the clinical setting, body image disturbances are relatively frequent and involve both psychiatric and neurological disorders. Disturbances in the perception of one's body are present in psychiatric disorders such as: *

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gr ...

bulimia nervosa Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eaten ...

binge eating disorder Binge eating disorder (BED) is an eating disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent binge eating episodes with associated negative psychological and social problems, but without the compensatory behaviors common to bulimia nervosa, OSFE ...

* psychotic spectrum disorders *

body dysmorphic disorder Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), occasionally still called dysmorphophobia, is a mental disorder characterized by the obsessive idea that some aspect of one's own body part or appearance is severely flawed and therefore warrants exceptional meas ...

body integrity dysphoria Body integrity dysphoria (BID, also referred to as body integrity identity disorder, amputee identity disorder and xenomelia, formerly called apotemnophilia) is a mental disorder characterized by a desire to have a sensory or physical disabili ...

(not included in

DSM-5 The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition'' (DSM-5), is the 2013 update to the '' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', the taxonomic and diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatri ...

). *

Cotard delusion Cotard's syndrome, also known as Cotard's delusion or walking corpse syndrome, is a rare mental disorder in which the affected person holds the delusional belief that they are dead, do not exist, are putrefying, or have lost their blood or inter ...

Body image disorders are common in eating disorders and are referred to as "

body image disturbance Body image disturbance (BID) is a common symptom in patients with eating disorders and is characterized by an altered perception of one's own body. The onset is mainly attributed to patients with anorexia nervosa who persistently tend to subj ...

. Disturbances in the body image are also present in neurological conditions such as: *

somatoparaphrenia Somatoparaphrenia is a type of monothematic delusion where one denies ownership of a limb or an entire side of one's body. Even if provided with undeniable proof that the limb belongs to and is attached to their own body, the patient produces ela ...

unilateral neglect Hemispatial neglect is a neuropsychological condition in which, after damage to one hemisphere of the brain (e.g. after a stroke), a deficit in attention and awareness towards the side of space opposite brain damage (contralesional space) is obse ...

Alice in Wonderland syndrome Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS), also known as Todd's syndrome or dysmetropsia, is a neuropsychological condition that causes a distortion of perception. People may experience distortions in visual perception of objects, such as appearing sma ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em Medical terminology Symptoms and signs of mental disorders Neurology Neuroscience

Clinical significance

See also

References