ASSIGNMENT #2

Body Image

Personal Reflection:

It is significant that we bring awareness of certain topics and issues that are happening in society. Although we see more progress in advocating about body image positivity, many people are not well-aware or well-informed about body image and eating disorders. Our group decided on this topic because it surrounds with things we all have in common. For instance, all of my group members are girls and have interests in feminism and equality. Most of us have at least struggled with our body image once because of the standards that society expects us to look like.

This topic is an ongoing one that I personally have struggled with most of my life and have been recently researching about before this project was assigned. For the most part, I am well aware of this topic and have already learned about it. During this project, some new things that I learned were the statistics regarding body disorders and body image. For example: 95% of people with eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25 (explains our age group focus), girls by age 6 start to express concerns about their own weight or shape, 69% of American elementary school girls who read magazines say that the pictures influence their concept of the ideal body shape, and 47% say the pictures make them want to lose weight. Those were just a few out of the many statistics I learned from the research our group found from the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) website, Mayo Clinic website, and NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association) website.

There were no major issues that I dealt with but there were a few minor ones. A minor issue I dealt with individually was communicating my ideas effectively to my group because I might make sense of it in my head but that does not mean everyone else will understand the way I do. This is why it can be useful for working in group projects so that I can practice communicating with others and consider other ideas/perspectives. This issue was a similar one I also dealt with as a group because receiving feedback from other groups about our project was a crucial step. Like previously mentioned, not everyone is well-aware of our topic, so it is necessary to address every aspect of our topic and our project as much as we can. Because our group is already informed about body image and collaborated on our project ideas, does not mean it is common knowledge for everyone to make sense of immediately.

I enjoyed this experience and hope to inspire others about body image, the positive message we are sending, informing about eating disorders and addressing the misconceptions. My group shares similar interests which made it easier for us to execute this assignment. It is very important to love one’s self and be happy with one’s body, disregarding society’s standard physical perception of you.

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Body Image Wearable Glasses

Group 6: Sarah Ibrahim, Jenna Kamzan, Stephanie Machuca, Robin Ross, Daisy Santos

Objective: Informing people about eating disorders, disordering of eating, and body image

Mission: Creating a physical object as a tool to translate information regarding the misconceptions surrounding Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) including the physiological, emotional, and cognitive ways in which the behaviors manifest.

Direct Action Visual: Statistics and words (positive and negative) associated with body image were written down on muslin pieces and pinned on the dressform (already altered into an average size) to bring awareness to others about body image and eating disorders.

 

Front View                                          Back View

Description: Building upon sunglasses to construct a wearable accessory that acknowledges a that when worn, allow a person to have the power to experience firsthand what it is like to live with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).  The glasses would fill in the gap where misconceptions and judgments fester. Instead of creating a wearable object for a superhero, we created an object that would ideally give anyone wearing them the power of insight, which has an exponentially deeper impact with a broader scope.

The inside view of the lens is a representation of the inner dialogue of someone with BDD. The outside part of the lens has designs that represent the way the person with the problem sees their own reflection.  This gives people a sense of what it actually feels like to have body image issues, and the transformative experience can provide them with a perspective that helps change their assumptions and misconceptions about people struggling with body image issues.

Materials:

• Sunglasses
• Measuring tape
• Graphic design digital prints (stickers)

Audience: These sunglasses are worn by anyone but focus on people with eating disorders, disordered eating, the demographic most vulnerable to struggle with body image issues, and those who do not understand the struggle.

Age group: Eating disorders do not care how old you are, what gender you are or where you are from.  While people of all ages can suffer from an eating disorder, 95% who struggle are aged between 12-25 years. The onset of this disorder can occur in pre-adolescents, and begin to present itself prior to that age or any time thereafter.

Research: Baseline figures based off of the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) which is used during a diagnostic patient assessment for practicing psychiatrists, psychologists or equivalent practitioners, hospitals and their affiliates. The following sources are utilized by said experts and are updated to provide ongoing education by those in the field of medicine.

• DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) website

https://dsm.psychiatryonline.org/doi/book/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

• Mayo Clinic website

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eating-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20353603

• NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association) website

https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn

Vision: Initiating an open dialogue in an effort to provide a more accurate understanding of the issues surrounding body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and body image issues resulting in a heightened social awareness of the problem.

Open Questions:

• Can BDD present itself in a person who is not suffering from a preexisting psychiatric condition/comorbid (coexisting)  disorder?
• Is it more effective to address the eating disorder symptoms first or the underlying problems?
• Is it better to use a generalized treatment approach or to tailor treatment to each individual?
• Which patient and disorder-related features can be used to provide more personalized treatment?
• How can loved ones contribute to the recovery process?
• How can the general population respond to a condition they do not understand?
• How can people gain a better understanding that the illness and its symptoms are two separate, yet co-occurring conditions?

Illness: Eating Disorder Behaviors/ Symptoms: health problems, distorted thinking, emotional regulation, unhealthy (maladaptive) behaviors ( i.e.self-destructive behavior)?