Every person has a self-value or a sense of self-worth. In a psychological form, it is called ‘Self-esteem’. It includes the self-belief on our abilities, our appearance and worth. Personal appearance is an important component in self-esteem which has close connectivity with mental health. Concept of body image is not very often discussed openly. But every individual aware of their physical image and reflects in their actions.
‘Body image’ is an individual perception of one’s appearance. It is not just seeing ourselves in the mirror or looking at our picture. It is a mental picture what we have about ourselves. There is no doubt that all want to have a good appearance. It enhances the self-confidence of an individual. Youngsters have more concern than middle and old aged. Some of them are so obsessed. Excessive attachment and attractiveness towards fashion and bodybuilding makes the youngsters to overly obsessed and generate stress among them.
Four components of body image:
1. The way we perceive ourselves: It is an individual’s perception or how one individual sees himself. There is a possibility that the perception is wrong. Thin body built person may perceive he or she is fat. It may be a right or wrong perception.
2. The way we feel in actual: There are some ways of our feelings towards our appearance. Means, we like or dislike our look. The amount of like or dislike towards our body shape, size, weight, height and other features.
3. Our thoughts and beliefs: It is a cognitive body image. Some people think if they have more muscle then looks good, some others believe they look good if they become thinner.
4. Our action with relation to our look: When someone is dissatisfied by his looks he may be involved with some strenuous harmful acts like vigorous exercises or skipping the food. Some may go into isolation since they conclude that he or she does not look good and no one likes him or her.
Facts related to negative body image:
• Age: Crucial time for developing body image disturbance is late childhood and adolescence. Most of the eating disorders cases are falling in this age group.
• Gender: Adolescent girls are more prone to body image dissatisfaction than boys, but still the rates of body dissatisfaction in males are rapidly approaching that of females nowadays.
• Perfect personality traits – People with perfectionist personality traits develop more dissatisfaction than others and never compromise with what they have.
• Bullied children – Children or young adolescents who are teased for their appearance, especially weight, regardless of actual appearance or weight, are at a greater risk of developing body dissatisfaction than those who are not.
• Peer pressure - When a person is in an environment in which people express body image concerns and model weight loss behaviours are more likely to develop body dissatisfaction regardless of actual appearance or weight.
• Body size - In our weight-conscious society, larger body size or thin increases risk of body dissatisfaction. Anything disproportionate with the height and weight leads to dissatisfaction.
• Sexual orientation in males - Research shows that homosexual men are more vulnerable to body dissatisfaction and results in eating disorders.
Suggestions to overcome body image issues:
· Eat and move in a way that makes our brain and our body happy – not as a way to control our body shape.
· Focus on our positive qualities, skills and talents. They are more important than our looks.
· Choose to be surrounded by positive people. Avoid or unfollow the one who is involving with body-shaming activities in social media.
· Find out the reasons for the negative thoughts related to body image. Analysing the reasons helps to find the solution.
· Set positive and realistic goals related to weight reduction. Unattainable goals increase the pressure and lead to stress.
· Avoid unnecessary comparisons. Understand the fact that every individual is unique and every individual is having some capacity
Positive body image brings individual harmony and contributes a lot to self-confidence. A pleasant appearance and attitude are always needed to maintain our mental equilibrium. Over expectation and false comparisons about our appearance results in unwanted stress leads to eating disorders and body image disturbance. Be thankful for what we have and take efforts to maintain. Remember, personal appearance alone is not enough to achieve or prove ourselves.
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