Bypass del cuerpo simbólico: Algunas consideraciones psicológicas de las cirugías bariátricas en obesidad mórbida

Abstract

This article reviews obesity treatment by means of bariatric interventions, focusing on some if its clinical consequences. It offers a fresh outlook from the perspective of psychoanalysis, taking into account an understanding of the body from the three types of registry proposed by Jacques Lacan, Real-Symbolic-Imaginary, which we use to analyze the current treatment model. Using this approach, we were able to recognize the absence of the symbolic body in the intervention model and the need to re-introduce it in the medical and psychological playgrounds. We show how the oblivion of this dimension could be at the base of psychological discomfort and post-surgery failures. Lastly, we provide guidance across fields to acknowledge the multi-dimensionality of the body, which provides the three inter-related dimensions, in an attempt to overcome the Cartesian mind-body divide.