11 - Body Image, Narcissisms, and Depression

Summary

The individual of our times is often characterized by a tendency toward narcissism and depression. What is the dynamic underlying these phenomena? How do these aspects correlate to the body image concept? Today we can also note that dynamics of counter-power inhabit the social system and trigger some processes: in the contemporary approach to the body, where frequently there is no “healthy distance,” there are difficulties in harmonizing sexual performance and tenderness, because people are often treated like things, or simply like soulless bodies (which is the point of view associated with pornography). The experience of falling in love also tends to assume the typical connotations of mercantile exchange in respect of particularly desirable personal and social characteristics, reflecting a more or less unconscious drive to obtain the best and most convenient things that concrete reality can offer. Contemporary psychological and anthropological perspectives on these topics are presented.