Abstract

MAZAGATOS, Begoña; INGLES-BORDA, Sandra  and  LOPEZ-PICADO, Amanda. The body as an object of desire in morbidly obese patients with a history of sexual abuse. Rev. Asoc. Esp. Neuropsiq. [online]. 2015, vol.35, n.126, pp.267-275. ISSN 2340-2733.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S0211-57352015000200003.

Background: Morbid obesity may use their body image in order to avoid attracting erotic attention. Some authors have suggest that people who have been sexually abused are likely to used their body image in that way. We try to attempt to verify this hypothesis in a sample of 398 morbidly obese patients who requested bariatric surgery. Method: A semi-structured interview with systematic collection of information regarding the abuse suffered and the experiences and repercussions of obesity on the patients' sexual relations. Results: The majority of patients interviewed with a history of abuse were women (n=39; 88.6%). Patients with a history of sexual abuse presented higher psychiatric comorbidity and lower self-esteem (2.60 (1.32-5.13)), although the belief and convictions of interference of their body image in their sexuality was similar to those who had not suffered sexual abuse (1.52 (0.71-3.24)). Conclusion: The use of an obese subject's body image as a protective barrier against sexuality does not require a history of sexual abuse.

Keywords : body image; morbid obesity; sexual abuse.

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