Do You Hate Your Body?
Body Image
You might be spending hours a day fixing, picking, and micromanaging your appearance. You may weigh yourself frequently and have your entire mood dictated by what number you see on the scale. You might completely avoid looking into mirrors because you can’t stand what you see. It’s so hard to live like this - with so much of your thoughts consumed by this. You long to be confident in your body. You believe that if you just lost weight or just had that surgery that only then you’d allow yourself to be confident. This can be an incredibly lonely and isolating existence. Avoiding romance or social opportunities out of fear of judgment.
There are so many humans of all genders and body sizes who struggle with this. It might be body dysmorphia or simply put - you’re struggling with body image issues. If this goes on long enough you may also be struggling with anxiety, depression, or an eating disorder.
Surprisingly Enough - Body Image is a Mental - not Physical Issue
Therapists specializing in body dysmorphia and body image concerns have specific training to help you not only cope with your current appearance but actually begin to view yourself differently. They can help you make steps toward body acceptance. This looks like feeling comfortable and confident in your body, accepting your natural body shape and size, and recognizing that physical appearance say very little about one’s character and value as a person.
The definition of body image is one’s thoughts, perceptions, and attitudes about their physical appearance. The feelings experienced when you see yourself in the mirror and how you feel about your weight and shape.
Body image may be an accurate perception or one that it highly distorted. Most people who struggle with eating disorders struggle with seeing their body the same way that others see it.
Many Experience Negative Body Image And The Frustration It Can Bring
Negative body image is often a distorted perception for one’s shape, weight or appearance. Body dissatisfaction is feeling shame, anxiety, and self-consciousness because of the way you look. People struggling with high levels of body dissatisfaction see their bodies as flawed in comparison to others. Therefore there are attempts made to correct the perceived flaw which can lead to disordered eating. Many also struggle with feelings of depression, social withdrawal, and low self esteem. While there is no single cause of an eating disorder, it’s very common for it to start with body dissatisfaction.
Body image concerns can begin at a very young age and persist throughout life. It was found that 40-60% of elementary school girls (ages 6-12) worry about about their weight or about becoming too fat. (Smolak, 2011). Furthermore, more than half of teenage girls and almost one-third of teenage boys try and lose weight by engaging in unhealthy behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, abusing stimulants, and throwing up (Neumark- Sztainer, 2005).
Body image concerns can impact all ages, genders, races, and sexualities. In Western culture, girls often feel pressure to look like the women they see on social media to fit the perceived ideal. Boys often feel the social pressures to be lean and muscular so they are perceived as successful and desirable.
The body positivity movement is helping to promote size diversity, body acceptance, and a healthier body image for all people. It’s important to continue to embrace body diversity and seeing all bodies as good bodies. There may be days when you feel ugly or uncomfortable in your body. Just rememeber that a huge part of developing positive body image is having gratitude for our bodies and the way it serves you in your life.
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