[Sense of self-contact experienced by an obese child].

Abstract

Background: Sense of self-contact experienced by a child is a mental availability of the contents of self-experience. It is a possibility of identifying and expressing the contents of own feelings, experiences and conditions. Sense of self-contact is an element of a sense of identity. The sense of identity involves the contents of mental self-experiencing, sense of differentiation and sense of continuity.

Objectives: The aim of this article is an attempt to answer what is a sense of self-contact experienced by an obese child.

Material and methods: 142 children have been examined (71 obese and 71 slim) at the age from 5 to 10 years. Children Apperception Test, the version with animal figures (CAT-A) has been used to children examination. The CAT-A consists of 10 black-white pictures presenting animals in different situations, significant in view of the child's development and functioning.

Results: The specific difficulties in an experience of self-contact by an obese child were pointed out.

Conclusion: Psychotherapy should be aimed at finding internal, mental points for self-description, thus also the sense of mental self-contact and self experience in personal dimension.