Abstract

MORAES, Raquel Borges de; SANTOS, Manoel Antônio dos  and  LEONIDAS, Carolina. Repercussions of Accessing Social Networks on People Diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2021, vol.21, n.3, pp. 1178-1199. ISSN 1808-4281.  http://dx.doi.org/10.12957/epp.2021.62734.

The prolonged exposure to digital media has been associated with the development of changes in eating behavior, through the internalization of idealized leanness patterns. This study aimed to investigate the perception of people diagnosed with eating disorders about the influence of access to virtual social networks on the precipitation and/or maintenance of their symptoms. Six women and one man, diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, participated in the study. They were being treated in a specialized service of a university hospital in a municipality in Brazil (Ribeirão Preto). A semi-structured interview script was used, applied individually and audiotaped. The data were transcribed and organized into three thematic categories: Emotional reverberations of indiscriminate access to online content; Awareness of the pernicious influence of the media; Internet as a privileged source of access to information of doubtful quality. Analyzed with the support of specific literature in the area, the results indicated that social networks stimulate the obsessive search for an idealized body, associating it with obtaining happiness and personal satisfaction under the aegis of individualism. The findings are expected to encourage a critical look at the contents indiscriminately disseminated in the virtual universe.

Keywords : eating disorders; anorexia nervosa; feeding behavior; social network; internet.

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