One of the paradoxes of our current era is that only 10% of obese or overweight people are actually dieting, whereas nearly 20% of the remaining population are trying to lose weight, even if they do not need to. This volume looks into our contemporary relationship with food by inserting current body image and eating disorders, like orthorexia and bigorexia, into a broader, historical overview. Gabrielli and Irtelli combine their knowledge of psychoanalysis and anthropology with scientific research and clinical experience to create this truly interdisciplinary work. Their study uses psychoanalytical theories about our 'hyper-modern' times to trace the impact that mass media has on individuals, families and societies. It explores various 'food tribes' and exposes the contradictions of today's mass media that advertise fitness and dieting alongside increasingly tastier and accessible foods. The work helps us to understand our highly social relationship with our bodies and what we eat.

This book proposes new perspectives on relational wellness and the contemporary family-combining a psychoanalytic overview with scientific research about the burgeoning popularity of divorce, the increase in "stepfamilies," and the use of social networks as well as other technologies. In this day and age, psychoanalysis has become increasingly interested in hyper-modern scenarios; for example, social networks and apps provide matching algorithms, which allow users to connect with people of similar interests. These networks have become one of the places where dissatisfied partners seek "more satisfactory situations." In the United Kingdom, cohabitation lasts for up to two years, on average, and 40% of marriages end in divorce. In the United States, the percentage rises: it has now reached 50%. Today the value of temporariness, in which everything is fragmented, is exalted. On the other hand, is it wrong to deny the natural ebb and flow of human feeling?

This book proposes new perspectives on relational wellness and the contemporary family-combining a psychoanalytic overview with scientific research about the burgeoning popularity of divorce, the increase in "stepfamilies," and the use of social networks as well as other technologies. In this day and age, psychoanalysis has become increasingly interested in hyper-modern scenarios; for example, social networks and apps provide matching algorithms, which allow users to connect with people of similar interests. These networks have become one of the places where dissatisfied partners seek "more satisfactory situations." In the United Kingdom, cohabitation lasts for up to two years, on average, and 40% of marriages end in divorce. In the United States, the percentage rises: it has now reached 50%. Today the value of temporariness, in which everything is fragmented, is exalted. On the other hand, is it wrong to deny the natural ebb and flow of human feeling?

One of the paradoxes of our current era is that only 10% of obese or overweight people are actually dieting, whereas nearly 20% of the remaining population are trying to lose weight, even if they do not need to. This volume looks into our contemporary relationship with food by inserting current body image and eating disorders, like orthorexia and bigorexia, into a broader, historical overview. Gabrielli and Irtelli combine their knowledge of psychoanalysis and anthropology with scientific research and clinical experience to create this truly interdisciplinary work. Their study uses psychoanalytical theories about our 'hyper-modern' times to trace the impact that mass media has on individuals, families and societies. It explores various 'food tribes' and exposes the contradictions of today's mass media that advertise fitness and dieting alongside increasingly tastier and accessible foods. The work helps us to understand our highly social relationship with our bodies and what we eat.