Table of contents:
- What are body image disorders?
- Symptoms that appear if you have a body image disorder
- What causes disturbed body image?
- What happens when someone has a body image disorder?
- 1. Depression
- 2. Body Dysmorphia Disorder
- Tips for building a positive body image
- 1. Always think positively about the body
- 2. Find and focus on the things you love about the body
- 3. Never compare yourself with others.
- 4. Always dress well.
- 5. Improve self-confidence
Generally, adolescents, especially girls, often feel dissatisfied with their body shape or weight. Especially when looking at the role of the media in creating performance standards or body image good for women as well as men. This can lead to disturbed body image for adolescents. Check out the full explanation below!
What are body image disorders?
According to the National Eating Disorder, body image is also known as body image is how a person sees himself when he is in the mirror or when he imagines himself in his mind.
Body image includes what he believes about his appearance (including assumptions and general views), how he feels about his own body (such as height, shape, and weight), and how he feels and controls his body when moving.
In the realm of medicine and psychology, body imageaimed at people who have their own beliefs, emotional attitudes, and perceptions of their own bodies.
This term is commonly used when discussing a wide variety of disorders and ailments, such as:
- Body dysmorphic disorder (mental disorder fixated on a physical disability that doesn't actually exist)
- Impaired honesty of body identity
- Eating disorders
- Somatoparaphrenia (the patient denies having all his limbs).
Everyone has body image to each other's physical appearance. However, is your body image positive or negative?
Your body image can be positive if you evaluate yourself positively. However, this too can be negative if you are referring to an unrealistic view of how someone values their body.
Therefore, when in adolescent development he already has views that are not in accordance with expectations, this can lead to image disorders in his own body.
Although it often occurs in girls, teenage boys can also experience this.
Starting from here, adolescents who are still in the phase of puberty will continue to criticize themselves and go on a strict diet which actually leads to eating disorders in adolescents.
Symptoms that appear if you have a body image disorder
Teens who have body image disorders or body imagenegative people feel that their appearance is not what society, family, friends, and people expect.
They have a feeling of inferiority when comparing themselves with others.
It is necessary to know if this disturbance of body image can be experienced by anyone. However, this is common when you are in the developmental phase of adolescence.
Usually, negative body image in adolescents starting from unrealistic thinking.
When they look at themselves in the mirror, they will see that their body parts are ugly, deformed, or abnormal. In fact, the limbs are just fine.
Apart from that, it can also arise as a result of overuse of social media where everyone is vying to look perfect.
The following are some of the symptoms that commonly occur when adolescents have a crisis of confidence and body image disorders, namely:
- Often reflect and judge yourself as having excessive physical deficiencies.
- Always take heart or think too much about other people's comments about their appearance or body.
- Often compare their bodies with others and find other people's bodies attractive. While his body is a form of failure.
- Feeling uncomfortable and awkward about his body.
- Feeling embarrassed and anxious about his body.
- Willing to be on a strict diet or do other extreme ways to "improve" appearance.
What causes disturbed body image?
Disorders of body image will lead to feelings of dissatisfaction and insecurity. This is an internal process that can be influenced by several external factors. For example, the influence of family, relatives you meet, and the media.
Currently, one of the external factors that most influences adolescents' dissatisfaction with their bodies is the media. The media play a huge role in creating an unrealistic standard of self-presentation.
Various studies have shown that the media do indeed contribute in an unfair portion to the ideal body image.
Not only that, the exposure and pressure exerted by the media can increase the body's sense of dissatisfaction and eating disorders.
Likewise with social media which can also be the cause of body image disorders or body image because it is not used properly.
Women who spend more time facing the screengadget, will more often compare himself to other people he sees on social media.
The beauty of the looks and the physical perfection of the people he sees on social media triggers him to feel dissatisfied with himself.
In the end, this causes a person to develop a perception of the body to follow these standards in order to be accepted by society. Especially in terms of beauty and body shape.
What happens when someone has a body image disorder?
Insecurity is common and can be felt by anyone.
However, when it leads to body image disorders or body image including adolescents the worst impact is experiencing mental health problems.
Here's what you need to know.
1. Depression
Teens who have body image disorders or body image disorder more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and a tendency to think and / or attempt suicide.
This can happen when compared to the group of adolescents who can accept the appearance of their bodies as they are.
Comments such as “You're fat, right now”, can be a trigger for depression for those who feel that their body image is bad.
Analyst Arroyo, PhD, and Jake Harwood, Ph.D from the University of California collaborated on two separate studies to find out whether this type of commentary is responsible for the mental health problems of the person experiencing it.
Overall, regardless of the participants' gender or body mass index (BMI), the more often they saw and even responded to or made comments like that, the lower their satisfaction with their bodies.
As a result, the level of depression they had after three weeks would be higher.
Researchers concluded that eating disorders, worries about body image to be slim, and psychiatric disorders were the result of the participants commenting "fat".
So, not just from listening or just seeing.
2. Body Dysmorphia Disorder
Body dysmorphia disorder (BDD) is an obsession with body image characterized by constant worrying about feeling physically 'disabled'.
People with this disorder often argue that their own shortcomings are very small but are exaggerated.
For example, a crooked nose or imperfect skin.
Weight-related BDD, for example, thinks that the thighs are too big or the waist is too big.
In reality, the perceived "defect" may be minimal or even non-existent.
But for them, the disability was considered so significant and prominent that it caused emotional distress and difficulties in daily functioning.
BDD occurs most often in adolescents as well as adults. Then, research conducted by the American Psychiatric Association shows that it affects men and women almost equally.
The cause of this condition is unclear. However, biological and environmental factors can trigger a person to experience this condition.
Such as genetic predisposition, neurobiological factors such as impaired serotonin function in the brain, personality traits, and life experiences.
BDD can cause a person to feel inferior, avoid social situations, and problems at work or school.
People with BDD should not go out or leave the house alone. The reason is, it is feared that he will commit reckless actions such as suicide.
Therefore, if you have a child with BDD tendencies, try not to leave him alone too often. Instead, accompany and talk to him from heart to heart.
Tips for building a positive body image
As we get older, both teenagers and adults alike should naturally get out of the problem of body image disorders and begin to think positively about the body. This is commonly referred to as body positivity.
So it can be interpreted that body positivity is the acceptance of body shape, size, and one's own physical abilities regardless of the condition.
Body image or body image positives can be built on their own. Even though it takes a process to build it, believe that you or your child can achieve it.
Let's start getting up body positivity in the following ways:
1. Always think positively about the body
Begin not to be self-deprecating. Even if this is just talk, it can have a huge impact on oneself if done continuously.
Instead of looking at how much you weigh, it is better to focus on how much weight you have lost.
Even if the scale doesn't drop that much, you're still doing your best and just need to keep going.
2. Find and focus on the things you love about the body
If you've always focused on the flaws in the body, reverse the perspective. Find a part of your body that you like and try to be grateful for it.
Apart from helping build body positivity, This can cover flaws and increase body image as well as self-confidence.
3. Never compare yourself with others.
Constantly comparing yourself to others will only make you tired and always dissatisfied. This is also the cause of image disturbances in the body. After all, this means you don't respect yourself.
4. Always dress well.
Dressing nicely and comfortably shows that you value and respect yourself. It can also increase self-confidence and love for the body.
Wear clothes that make you comfortable and don't feel inadequate. If the clothes are too small, make them a stepping stone for the spirit to lose weight the right way.
5. Improve self-confidence
Confidence comes when you have a good view of your personality and find that other people feel good about you too.
If you still judge your personality negatively, you may be overly concerned about how other people see us.
Remind yourself that true beauty is not visible on the outside. When you feel good about yourself, you will carry yourself with confidence.
Sometimesbody positivitycan be a long and arduous journey. Remember that the most important thing of all this is how you enjoy the process in order to avoid distorted body image.
Start by instilling in yourself that each body is unique and worthy of respect, and it's your body too.
While doing this, you can also educate yourself with knowledge aboutbody positivityin order to avoid things that could lead to misunderstanding.
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