Intervention based on mindfulness and body image in patients undergoing bariatric surgery

Abstract

After treatments for loss of large amounts of weight, the dissatisfaction with body image and the lack of recognition of the body itself is recurrent. These factors are elements of study due to the difficulties encountered in maintaining the results, in the long term, also in the surgical treatment of obesity. The lack of identity with the new form and dissatisfaction with body image have been pointed out as maintaining factors of poor eating habits and emotional eating that leads to weight recurrence. In this sense, the interest was raised as to whether: Would small mindfulness interventions have the ability to improve body image and favor the recognition of body distortions, in order to prevent weight recurrence in patients undergoing bariatric surgeries? This article aims to investigate the applicability of small mindfulness meditative strategies in the prevention of weight recurrence in bariatric patients. The method presented is a case report through 12 weekly meetings with a female client, 48 years of age, preoperative BMI of 42 Kg/m2 and postoperative BMI of 21.67 Kg/m2. The themes of the meetings were: psychoeducation about bariatric surgery, family approach, evaluation and psychoeducation about cognitive patterns, assessment of body image and body identity through photo composition. The other meetings were distributed among the small practices of mindfulness: breathing, movement, eating with mindfulness and body scanning. The practices demonstrated efficacy in reducing the discrepancy between the internal subjective perception of the body (interoception) and body image (exteroception). There was a positive experience of the body outside the aesthetic requirements, achievement of greater identity with body shape, exit from the perfectionist pattern and evaluation improvement of body shape and size. The small mindfulness-like meditative strategies have been shown to be effective in cognitive behavioral therapy for the prevention of weight recurrence in bariatric patients.