BODY IMAGE AFTER BARATRIC SURGERY

Abstract

The changes the world has been going through in the last few years are very visible, especially in terms of bodyrelated issues. Today, obesity has achieved epidemic proportions, and a large part of society is at risk. This paper aims to study the representations of body image of people with morbid obesity who were submitted to bariatric (gastric bypass) surgery. A qualitative investigation was carried out by means of a case study. Bariatric surgery provides the obese with improvements in terms of not only their general health but also their self-esteem. However, those people usually see the surgery as a solution to all their problems, which is certainly not true. A search for a dream or ideal body takes place then, but rarely does it comes true. It is when that ideal is not attained that self-image deviations, frustration and depression may arise.