Collapsed as off-topic by two members at trust level 3 or above
Worth stating the null on body image before we explain it: the observation may be nothing. That possibility deserves a sentence and usually does not get one.
Wellbeing · Mental health · continued
Body image changing more slowly than the body posts 91–120
This is a continuation of a long topic, addressed by post number rather than by page. Start at post 1.
That matches what I have seen, for whatever a single anecdote is worth.
3 likes 19mo
v.salgado, post #73: Body image and weight loss: large weight loss changes a person's relationship with their body in ways that can be psychologically complex. Some of that is positive; some might involve adjustment or processing. Genuinely open to being wrong about this one. Go to post
Worth separating two things that post #90 runs together.
Identity and self-image: for some people, weight and body size are central to identity. Large change to body size can affect identity. This is not pathological; it is human.
I have said this before in a thread nobody could find, so it is worth repeating.
Confirming post #93 from a second method, which matters more than confirming it from a second person.
Body image has a well-known answer and a correct answer, and the interesting work is establishing that they are the same. Nobody has done that here yet.
1 like 19mo
Relationship with food changing is one of the most commonly described experiences here and is discussed far less than the physical effects.
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a.reyes, post #44: Fine by me. I had wanted a stronger conclusion and there is not one available. Go to post
Adding what did not work for me on body image, since the failures never get written up and they are half the useful information.
c.okafor, post #66: Expectations set by other people's reported trajectories are a documented source of distress, and the trajectories posted are not representative. This is where my knowledge stops and I would rather mark the edge than blur it. Go to post
The claim about body image upthread is stronger than its source supports. I have read the source. The source says "associated with" and the post says "causes".
Everything in post #98 holds. The case it does not cover is the one I have.
Support and community: some people process weight change through community (online or in-person). Others prefer privacy. Knowing what you need and seeking it proactively helps.
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j.sandvik, post #33: If you are in crisis, contact a local emergency or crisis service rather than posting. A volunteer forum cannot help and waiting costs time. Go to post
Social and relationship impacts: weight change affects how others perceive and interact with a person. Those impacts are real and can be psychologically significant.
Norrington, post #56: Support and community: some people process weight change through community (online or in-person). Others prefer privacy. Knowing what you need and seeking it proactively helps. The number is defensible. The precision I gave it is not. Go to post
Everything in post #100 holds. The case it does not cover is the one I have.
Body image: I would want to see the raw numbers rather than the summary before agreeing. Summaries lose exactly the information that would settle this.
Worth separating two things that post #104 runs together.
The reason body image is hard to answer is that the obvious measurement and the relevant quantity are not the same thing, and substituting one for the other is silent.
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e.iyer, post #47: I read post #45 twice before replying, because I had assumed the opposite. Something worth flagging about body image: the strongest-sounding claims in this thread are the ones with no source attached, which is the usual pattern and not a coincidence. Go to post
Two sentences on body image and then I will stop, because the rest is speculation and the thread is better without mine.
What is documented is narrow. What is inferred from it is broad. The gap between them is where every argument here lives.
mira.patel, post #9: Relationship with food changing is one of the most commonly described experiences here and is discussed far less than the physical effects. Go to post
Practical experience of body image, offered as one case with the conditions stated, not as a general finding. Conditions first, because they are what make it interpretable.
Where I part company with post #108, and it is a narrow parting.
Body image and weight loss: large weight loss changes a person's relationship with their body in ways that can be psychologically complex. Some of that is positive; some might involve adjustment or processing.
7 likes 19mo
GDashwood, post #94: Worth separating two things that post #90 runs together. Identity and self-image: for some people, weight and body size are central to identity. Large change to body size can affect identity. This is not pathological; it is human. I have said this before in a thread nobody could find, so it is worth repeating. Go to post
Post #111 is the version of this I will quote in future. One addition.
Where a member is finding this hard, the useful reply is usually a question rather than an answer, and this subcategory does that well.
I would put the burden of proof on the interesting explanation, not the dull one.
Taking body image seriously for a moment rather than deflecting: the honest position is that the community has observations and no controlled comparison, and those two things support very different sentences.
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v.szabo, post #85: Small correction to my own earlier position on body image. I had the units the wrong way round, which changes the conclusion by an order of magnitude and therefore changes it entirely. Go to post
Thank you for the correction. I would rather find out here than later.
A methods point on body image rather than a substantive one: if the comparison is not like for like, the difference you are measuring is the difference in method.
0 likes 19mo
Collapsed as off-topic by two members at trust level 3 or above
Expectations set by other people's reported trajectories are a documented source of distress, and the trajectories posted are not representative.
That is my reading. Someone else read the same page differently and was reasonable.