Mirror, mirror, on the wall: During pandemics, how can self-perception research in people with eating disorders happen at all?

Abstract

Plain English summary Embodiment illusions involve the temporary experience of owning another person’s body or body parts. These illusions have been studied in people with eating disorders (EDs) as a means for (i) better understanding their self-perception issues (e.g., they tend to see their own appearance as being too big), and (ii) improving these self-perception issues (i.e., does experiencing embodiment reduce distortions involving body size?). ‘Classic’ embodiment illusions typically require participants to simultaneously experience visual, proprioceptive, and tactile sensory stimulation. However, COVID -19 pandemic restrictions have limited research in face-to-face settings which poses a challenge for the classic approach, mainly in relation to tactile input which would usually be provided by a researcher. A ‘tactile-reduced’ approach for eliciting embodiment illusions would, therefore, enable this field of research to continue, which in turn may benefit people with EDs. While several studies in non-clinical populations have demonstrated the effectiveness of a tactile-reduced approach, understanding surrounding this approach in ED populations is lacking. In this review, we offer a prospective set of suggestions regarding how tactile-reduced embodiment may be conducted with ED populations, both in terms of better understanding their (problematic) self-perception, and how such concerns may be improved.

Keywords

• Self-perception
• Embodiment illusion
• Enfacement illusion
• Body image concerns
• Eating disorders
• Anorexia nervosa