The Promise of a New Paradigm for the Treatment of Body Image Issues
A recent report suggests that virtual reality ‘embodiment illusions’ may help with body image disturbances. This can improve eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder, by making someone’s mind feel as if they are in a different body.
Understanding Body Image Disturbance
Our brain typically integrates sensory information to form a coherent perception of ‘my body’. When this goes awry, we have something called a disturbed body image which is characterized by having an inaccurate and distressing view of one’s own body. Many people suffer from various forms of dissatisfaction or misperception regarding their bodies, and this is referred to as body image disturbance.
According to surveys conducted among more than 1,600 Australian 12-18 year-olds, almost half had extreme disappointments with their own looks. For example, several studies have linked it to eating disorders and high rates of relapse in the treatment of BDD.
Embodiment Illusions: Why They Matter
Embodiment illusions entail the use of virtual reality or other approaches to bring about the sensation of “being in another’s shoes.” One well-know illustration is the “rubber hand illusion,” where rubbing simultaneously a hidden hand and an apparent rubber hand elicits a feeling similar to that rubber hand being part you.
Through virtual reality technology, such an illusion can extend beyond individual limbs to encompass whole bodies. Based on findings from thirty two systematic reviews carried out by researchers at University College London it appears that greater susceptibility to these illusions is observed among individuals exhibiting higher levels of bodily image disturbance implying some kind malleability within disturbed multisensory integration.
Positive Effects of Illusions
Much research indicates that having these illusions can reduce perceptual distortions as well as unpleasant thoughts about size and shape of the body. People can have a modified representation of their physical appearance by experiencing an artificial body that has a desirable size or shape.
For example, in one study women with anorexia nervosa used a healthy weight virtual reality avatar to reduce over-estimation of their own body size. On the other hand, another study found that healthy women felt thinner and less dissatisfied with their bodies after embodying a thin virtual body.
The Importance of Novel Interventions
It is extremely hard to cure diseases like eating disorders and BDD associated with unhealthy body image perceptions which require long term recovery periods. The main method employed in treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but relapse rates are high after its utilization.
In this regard, embodiment illusions may offer ancillary therapeutic options for individuals who misperceive their own bodies. As a innovative approach therefore, these illusions show promise as they change the distorted perception of an individual’s mind while other therapies continue being employed.
Unanswered Questions and Ethical Concerns
We still have so much to learn about how long the effects of embodiment illusions endure and what tools best measure disturbances in body images. Most research samples have been derived from Western cultures implying that more diversified studies are needed.
Enfacement illusion could be studied further as well in future; since it creates face ownership among individuals with such issues while at the same time reducing facial misperception within patients experiencing BDD. Nevertheless, manipulating someone’s sense of self physically carries implications for instance there might be increased misconceptions regarding one’s actual size or weight gain aversion in dangerously underweight people.
However, using immersive illusions to remap body image has potential despite these questions. In addition to current treatments, it might provide a novel complementary method of understanding and treating distortions in body image.
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