"We desire to be overweight" - Obesity as a defensive barrier
Olivia Davis
2026-03-22
3 min. read
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"I fear I have lost weight", with which a woman initiated her account-- she was not slender, she was obese, and her body was progressively declining to cooperate.
Obesity as a defensive wall
The psychoanalytic concepts consider obesity to be a form of self-defence. Therefore, when a child's relationship with his mother is considered to be an unspecific symptom, which is accompanied by other symptoms of dysfunction (Buk-Sosnowska). The essence of the problem is the emotional aspect. Excess body weight is ultimately a defense against my threatening object, or my own emotions.