Negative Body Image Case Study

The risk factors of negative body image can be applied universally while there are specific aspects that should be taken into consideration in China. Chinese beauty ideals were distinct from Western ones; in China, traditional beauty is related with plump figure for it represents wealth and wellbeing. However, the “modernization”, “industrialization”, “rapid economic transition”, along with the accelerating “westernization” evoke the dramatic shifts in “cultural beliefs and beauty ideals” ( Xie, et al. 2006; Jung and Forbes 2007). According to Luo, Parish and Laumann (2004), females from urban area, coastal south areas and with higher education background have a relatively high body image concern, particularly in terms of body weight and body shape; the findings are associated with

China is experiencing enormous economic and social change; the emphesis and promotion of human will is extremely strong, which can be reflected on the educational system and media promotion. Human body is priced, socialized and becoming an instrument and

First, in the Chinese diagnostic criteria of mental disorders (CCMD-3), body image disorder is not an independent disease like in that in America; the treatments are targeted at eating disorder, depression, social dysfunction and so on (Tian 2011). There are no specific clinical treatments for this issue. Then, body dissatisfaction is not enough on the mental illness criteria and therefore clinical help is unavailable; meanwhile, school counselor does not provide relatively professional help. More importantly, individuals with “minor psychological problem” would dismiss them as “problem of life” and decline to seek for help (Kolstad and Gjesvik