How can the phenomenon be explained that people attack their own bodies and self-harm? Disorders such as self-injury, eating disorders, hypochondria, or dysmorphophobia involve attempts at self-healing by sacrificing a body part to save the whole, the self. In this way, the fragile self, the identity, is secured or at least intended to be. In early childhood development, there is an integration of the body self into the representation of the self. Early traumas disrupt this integration; later, overlaying traumas often lead to dissociations of the body self. The body can be used like an object. The purpose of dissociation is to localize the traumatic violence that intrudes into the self in the split-off body, allowing the overall self to survive. Examples from patients illustrate this representation clearly.