Interest in the psychoanalytic significance of the body remains strong, both in a broad societal context—consider fitness and cosmetic surgery—and in a pathological sense: self-harm and eating disorders are the modern illnesses of adolescence. These disorders primarily serve the purpose of being able to control at least the body when one feels powerless otherwise, and to sacrifice a (body) part to save the whole. Throughout history, people have altered and manipulated their bodies for identity assurance, treating it as if it belongs to the self while simultaneously being able to treat and mistreat it like an object, like an external piece of nature. Mathias Hirsch illustrates the often complex psychological relationships through numerous practical examples of the sometimes bizarre contemporary attitudes towards the body.