Visible yet Invisible: embodied meanings of weight stigma among women with binge eating disorder and higher weight

Le résumé fourni par la source

Purpose How the body is experienced in the context of weight stigma is largely unexplored among women with binge eating disorder (BED) and higher weight. The aim of this study was to investigate how weight stigma can manifest as embodied meaning.Methods Eight patients participated in qualitative interviews. The data analysis was inspired by Van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological method. Habits, understood as unspoken patterns of behavior shaped by social and material contexts, was a central analytic concept.Results The overarching finding was participants feeling “Visible yet Invisible”. Three subthemes emerged. “Absorbed by unfitting body-size”: experiences of a constant collision with the thin-body ideal made participants feel overtly visible and shameful. “Continuous fluctuation between hyper and hypo awareness of the body”: participants distracted themselves from overwhelming sensations attributed to body size. “Agency based on adjustment and self-restriction”: participants arrested their spontaneous self-expression in daily life. Habitual restrictions of bodily awareness and agency were interpreted to assist participants perceiving themselves less visible, and thus buffer feelings of shame about their body size.Conclusions Findings highlight how weight stigma can intertwine with shame preventing habits among patients with BED and higher weight. Future directions for research on BED through patients’ embodiment are suggested.

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