In the present era, we seldom come across the term “Body Image.'' 

SO, WHAT IS IT? 

Body image refers to the perceptions held by us and others of our bodies. One of the most important perpetuating factors of a negative body image is the media. People are chasing the unrealistic ideal that the media portrays, with girls wanting a slim body frame and guys wanting a muscular physique. The ubiquity of "size 0" models and celebrities in the media, who frequently turn to drastic methods like training, poor diets, and even the usage of medications or plastic surgery to preserve virtually "sickly-thin" body form and size, is indicative of the unachievability of the images.

In this process, we often fail to undermine the role of genetics.

The research done in Karachi, Pakistan concluded that media has an overall negative effect on body image in both males and females. Sadly, we are a generation obsessing over looks and at the same time hating to look at ourselves in the mirror. People feel they wouldn’t be worthy of love if they didn’t look a certain shape or size. As humans, we all tend to fall victim to upward social comparison processes.

In an interview of 26 Indian women, they reported that social comparisons with friends and family members as well as Bollywood actresses play a role in their dissatisfaction with their body shape and size. Several studies have shown that obsession with the body starts specifically in adolescence due to dramatic physical changes taking place and continuing into adulthood. 

How Our Mental Health Is Negatively Affected

 1. Distorted Self -Esteem

Each one of us has a real and an ideal self. A discrepancy between the two leads to body image dissatisfaction, resulting in self-deprecation, and reduced self-esteem. In the process of shedding some extra pounds, we also shed those parts of us that were our defining characteristics at a point. This fogs our sense of self-identity severely impacting our self-esteem, thereby, instilling feelings of inadequacy. This contributes to anxiety and depression, something so mentally excruciating that you feel lifeless despite having a life. To salvage one’s self-esteem, people download the popular photo-editing apps because the media has always told us to conceal our flaws!

Photo by  Tim Mossholder Team  on  Unsplash

2. Eating Disorders

The inability to conform to the idealised body image results in emotional eating and thus, people suffer from eating disorders such as Binge eating, Anorexia nervosa, and Bulimia nervosa. It has been proposed in the dual pathway model of bulimic pathology that elevated body mass, body dissatisfaction, and dieting contribute to affective problems for adolescent girls. Eating disorders are described as a threat to the long-term physical and psychosocial well-being of individuals.

3. Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Individuals who live with Body Dysmorphic Disorder have the notion that a feature of their appearance, or often more than one, is unattractive or deformed. Such people are likely to display delusions of reference, believing that the people around them notice their ‘‘defect’’ and evaluate them negatively or humiliate them as a consequence of their features. These feelings are also antecedents for people developing social anxiety.

This journey of physical attractiveness isn’t as glorious as it looks on the outside. The hateful comments, derogatory remarks, unpleasant stares, and the sound of loud laughs become a nightmare altogether.

 It isn’t hard to deal with our weight. It is hard to deal with the weight of the idea that other people hold of us.

It is a message from Heart It Out to all the beautiful souls that making yourself smaller doesn’t make the big feelings go away. We need to be proud of our skin and learn to unburden ourselves of other people’s opinions because these obsessive and pessimistic thought patterns rob us of our most beautiful life experiences. The therapists at Heart It Out are there for you at every step to make your healing journey safe and smooth.