Obesity: Listening beyond the fat cells

Abstract

What relation does obesity have with mental suffering? The authors investigated the relationship between traumas, melancholia, and loss, and show that obesity represents an attempt to fill in a void that goes beyond food. Based on the recognition of mental suffering, the authors underscore the need for a new type of therapeutic listening that promotes new ways of dealing with the emptiness of one's existence. © 2009 University Association for Research in Fundamental Psychopathology.