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Problems of eating disorders as seen from the point of view of the theory of the social construction of reality: The causes and consequences of eating disorders in relation to family background
ROKOSOVÁ, Silvie
The presented thesis deals with problems of eating disorders (hereinafter abbreviated to EDs). The theoretical framework is the Social Construction of Reality; a concept saying that the individual perceives reality - as a phenomenon formed and determined socially - in the way it is presented by the "power structures" of the society. The thesis pays special attention to the aetiology of these disorders, laying emphasis on family factors. The aim of the thesis refers to one of the topics resulting from my Bachelor thesis, when it appeared worthwhile to work up in detail the problem of subjectively seen factors substantial for onset of EDs. Thus the aim of the thesis was to map which factors the persons suffering from EDs as well as members of their families consider to be significant for onset of the disease - either their own or their daughter´s /sister´s on one hand and EDs generally on the other hand - and what led them to take their stand, in so doing two ranges of time were mapped. The set of persons under review was represented by the same respondents as in case of research for the Bachelor thesis. In order to ensure mapping of the above-mentioned problem in the most possible complex way, a qualitative research strategy was chosen. The necessary data was obtained by employing the technique of deep semi-structured interviews, then the data was processed using qualitative analysis of the respondents´ statements. Part of the research work was also confrontation of the collected and processed data with specialised resources. On the basis of the results of our research it is evident that the factor causing onset and development of the respondents´ or their daughter´s/sister´s EDs mentioned most often is family background. Unlike the Bachelor thesis, this factor was rather mentioned as one of many; it is not so dominant any longer. This may be explained by the fact that the patients spoke about their situations under the influence of other factors that experts had been emphasising. As for EDs generally, then the respondents mostly mentioned desire to be slim, which, however, has now substantially fallen into the shade. This may be explained by the respondents´ experience with EDs. It may be said that in taking their standpoints, family members were much more influenced by information from specialised resources than the persons suffering from EDs themselves, who mostly took their stand on the basis of their own conviction. Our research shows that for persons suffering from EDs, family background was not a source of information on the problem of these disorders. The research pointed out the importance of engaging the family in solving the problem of EDs as well as the necessity of individual approach to each case of this disease. The presented thesis may be a helpful source of information not only for people interested in the problem of EDs; it may also serve as materials for instruction in the medical social field, and last but not least it can be used to bring more information to the general public.
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Psychosomatic approach to treatment of food intake disorders
ROKOSOVÁ, Silvie
Contingent problems arising from food intake disorders (henceforth only FID or ``PPP{\crqq} in Czech) involve a broad range of bio-psycho-social aspects of life. Thus, FID are being viewed as a sign of disrupted balance amongst the different facets of life. The objective of this undergraduate thesis is to point out the role of the psychosomatic approach to treatment of FID, and the necessity of emphasizing this approach and adopting it in practice. In the process of mapping the issue of applying psychosomatic approach in the treatment of FID as comprehensively as possible, I applied a qualitative research methodology. The aim was to draw up an overview of the situation from the perspective of persons who had undergone such treatment {--} concretely, patients over 18 years of age and their adult family members {--} in order to find out whether the concerned person{\crq}s treatment was adequately comprehensive. Another objective of my qualitative research was to record the opinions of individual specialists and their general attitude to the given subject. For data collection I used the technique of semi-structured conversations, which I processed according to qualitative analyses of the respondents` answers. The result of these analyses enabled me to determine the factors that the patients and their family members considered fundamental for the onset, progress, and treatment of FID, as well as the aspects that specialists consider important in connection with the onset, progress, and treatment of patients suffering from FID. The work on my undergraduate thesis led me to an important finding, namely, the importance of a comprehensive approach to the treatment of FID, where the singularity of individual cases is highly relevant. Treatment of FID should be flexible and take into account the changing social conditions as well as the complexity of these disorders. Solution finding for the complex issues involved in FID requires a sufficient number of experienced specialists, and prevention plays a very important role as well.
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