Self-Portrait Evaluation may Help Single Out Eating Disorders in Females

Eating disorders among women could be identified at an early stage by making them undergo a self portrait evaluation, a new study published in the journal, Arts in Psychotherapy suggests. A group of Israeli researchers conducted the study on a total of 76 women, 36 of whom were suffering from some form of eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. Half of the women were overweight while the other half were of normal weight.

On being asked to draw a picture of themselves, the researchers found that those women who suffered from eating disorders drew pictures that had a larger neck, disconnected neck or no neck. The women also put more emphasis on the mouth while thighs too were wider.

Other signs included omission of breasts, disconnected feet and drawing of figures that were small compared to the size of the paper given. Lead researcher Rachel Lev-Wiesel said that the test could be used in order to identify women with eating disorders.

“Women suffering from eating disorders usually tend to hide their condition, even from their professional therapists. They often find it difficult to talk about their problems, so a non-verbal and non-intrusive tool such as a simple request for a self-figure drawing can become an important tool in creative art therapy”, she said.


Source-Medindia