Body image can be a pretty rough topic, no matter who you are. We live in a society where there’s a perfect body type and we believe everyone should look the same.
For those who don’t resemble the perfect body type, it can be pretty rough. Personally, I look in the mirror everyday and my opinion on how I look fluctuates depending on how “skinny” I look. Body image has always been a pretty difficult topic for me, and I have never felt completely comfortable with my body.
When I was growing up, I never thought much about the way I looked. This is pretty common for most people because as a young child, we’re very carefree and are naive about body image and real world problems. However, at some point along the way I started to hate my body and the way I look. This change in my attitude was probably around high school when I was faced with girls who were gorgeous, and I have never thought of myself in that way.
Living in a body you hate is pretty difficult. I can only speak from my own experience, but I know there’s never a time I’m not thinking about the way I look or wonder if other people think I look too “big” that day. There are days where I will avoid every mirror I see because I don’t want to look at myself. It can be pretty disheartening absolutely hating the way you look and can bring you down no matter how good your day is.
This is also more technically (and commonly) known as body dysmorphia, which is a mental health condition in which you can’t stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance. I have never been officially diagnosed with this disorder; however, I do believe I fit the criteria. There are many people who suffer with body dysmorphic disorder, which comes out to be roughly 200,000 cases in America every year. Those who suffer with this disorder understand it’s hard to look in the mirror everyday and have a completely different opinion of how you look. I know that some days I look in the mirror and think I’m the prettiest girl in the world, and others I completely hate the way I look.
If I’m being honest, I have never figured out a way to help mmyself feel comfortable in my own skin. At this point, I’m pretty used to looking in the mirror and not feeling comfortable. There are days where I really try to push body positivity into my mindset, but honestly once one negative thought pops into my head, it’s all over for me.
Even though I’m still trying to fight this myself, I do have some things that have helped me in the past. One thing that has helped me is journaling. I found it comforting being able to vent out all of my feelings into a place I know is personal. Something else that helped me is getting into the mindset that your body is not the most important part about you! In the past, I’ve written this quote on sticky notes and put them on every mirror so I could be constantly reminded. The most important thing to remember is no matter what your body looks like, you are beautiful, intelligent and should not be told otherwise.