Abstract

AZEVEDO, Maria Alice Salvador Busato de  and  SPADOTTO, Cleunice. Psychological study of obesity: two clinical cases. Temas psicol. [online]. 2004, vol.12, n.2, pp. 127-144. ISSN 1413-389X.

Exogenous obesity has been studied with greater interest in the last decades because it is considered one of the most common abnormalities of our time and the most serious nutritional disorder of the developed world and of some of the developing countries. This work aimed at studying the psychological aspects of two cases of female obesity, through semi-structured interviews, one to one sessions of supportive psychotherapy, and the projective test of the Human Figure Drawing. The analysis of the patients’ speech has confirmed the literature, which presents hyperphagia as a regression to the oral phase and as a mechanism used by the obese women of the present study to cope with their anxiety, caused by conflicts on their daily lives. The present study shows how emotional factors influence the onset and/or maintenance of obesity, which is taken as a symptom. Its causes should be looked for among the underlying unconscious motivations of the person.

Keywords : Obesity; Psychological study of obesity; Female obesity.

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