"anosognosia has serious practical implications"

To understand the implications of anosognosia, in relationship to eating disorders, I always find it useful to discuss the concept in another arena entirely, like this one, which has implications for the body image distortion so common in eating disorder patients:

Paralysis deniers could be helped by seeing video of themselves

Comments

  1. Oh no, that word again?!

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  2. I swear, if I were to have any more children, I'd name the poor kid "Anosognosia."

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  3. If you did name the kid I'd never be able to pronounce his or her name but Ano is kind of cute, and I'm certainly learning to spell the word and add it to written correspondence

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  4. I think I'm having PTSD from that name from that post you wrote a while back. ;)

    Yeah, I just call it "agnosia" I make it short because I don't feel like pronouncing all of those syllables. LOL. Though, I can say if I try.

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  5. Very interesting post, Laura. I read about this condition in stroke sufferers after my late father had a stroke. THe things our brains can do.

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  6. It is kind of humbling, isn't it?

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  7. In the new movie, The Soloist, Nathaniel's friend and sister could see what the mental illness was doing to him when he could not.

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  8. I think this is an easy concept to understand but a complex one to recruit for treatment. Most of us see ourselves differently when we watch ourselves in home movies, in "live action," etc. Job candidates can see how they present to potential employers in practice interviews.

    Even as the patient with the lack of insight, it's difficult to deny certain confrontations with self. It was an "interview" my husband did with our video camera that convinced me to sign in to an inpatient eating disorder unit. I thought I looked "fine" and even "normal/robust" in photos, draped just-so in flattering clothing, wearing make-up, and in passing glances at the mirror. When I saw my image and heard my thoughts on tape, I saw someone who looked like a child street-urchin spouting nonsense ... even just after he had shot it. He took it with us on the laptop to the hospital and would say, every time I wavered on the necessity of treatment, "do we need to pull out the video?"

    My sense of self and the picture in real-life, both physically and personality-wise, didn't match up ... and I'm still astonished to not-recognize myself at times. I think it's common for people with eating disorders to "live in their heads," thereby making for a disparate experience.

    I often wonder if anosognosia is part of the reason people who are struggling with an eating disorder might take photographs or video of themselves (which often ends up as "triggering" or "thinspiration" on various sites) ... b/c they are looking for signs of something they don't see in the mirror or the mind's-eye. As if taking all those photos and posting them gives some kind of feedback they aren't capable of giving themselves without the dissociation of the camera lens (and if it *is* posted, there is likely peer or other feedback along the lines of "you are so thin" or "you aren't fat").

    I think video-therapy could be a valuable component of even inpatient treatment ... despite all the potential landmines. I was a patient at Menninger in the 1990s, and every Saturday morning was video therapy. It wasn't gratutious body-shots or posturing but various activities that were meant to increase body-awareness, self-image, speaking up, owning space in the world, observing posture and mannerisms, interaction with others. It was often very uncomfortable for patients, but I think it was powerful, instant feedback.

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  9. Anon Mom, wow. Thank you for describing that so thoughtfully and evocatively. This is really helpful to me, and fascinating. I've been thinking a lot about body image mapping and perception lately and wondering just how accurate it is for ANY of us. Yes, these distortions and anosognosia are dangerous for those with eating disorders and disabling dysmorphia but I wonder how much of what the rest of the world believes about itself is based on any sort of empirical reality? Probably not a lot!

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