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MENTAL HEALTH SERIES: BODY POSITIVITY

BY: ANJANA KASHYAP AND SANIA HYDER

TW: BODY ISSUES, MENTAL HEALTH



ARTWORK BY: ANJANA KASHYAP

Body image is a person's perception of their own physical self. A person's body image plays a very important role in their mental well being.

Body dissatisfaction has become a cultural norm. Be it a 3 year old or a person who’s in their 60s, body dissatisfaction haunts us all. Research suggests that children as young as 3 years old can have body image issues. This can happen at school as they interact with friends ,as they observe the adults in their lives and through the portrayal of “perfect" bodies on media, internet and even magazines.

Body issues can lead to having anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and other body image concerns like BDD and ED (eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia)

When you have Body Dysmorphic Disorder, you intensely focus on your appearance and body image, repeatedly checking the mirror, grooming or seeking reassurance, sometimes for many hours each day. Your perceived flaw and the repetitive behaviours cause you significant distress, and impact your ability to function in your daily life.

A healthy body image means knowing how to take care of yourself and feeling good in your body. Positive body image is linked to good self-esteem, and these two qualities build a person's confidence and resilience.

Why is a healthy body image and good self esteem important?

It’s easy to buy into the belief that your body is just not good enough and feel inadequate , as though you constantly need to change who you are and what you look like, just to fit in to the “ideal” of beauty. Body image is how you see yourself and how you imagine you look. A healthy body image is much more than a perfect waist size and abs. A healthy body image means that you truly accept and are comfortable in your own skin and are not trying to change your body to the “perfect” body that you see in the media or in the society

Self esteem means a person’s overall sense of self worth. It’s how much you respect yourself. Your beliefs about yourself, and your evaluation on how you look, feel and behave.

Having good self esteem means you know what you deserve from yourself and from others. You value and respect yourself. You know what your strengths and weaknesses are, and you celebrate them. You acknowledge the fact that you are not perfect but you are good enough the way you are. You acknowledge that you’re prone to making mistakes and are open to criticism rather than taking it to heart and putting yourself down.

Body image and self esteem influence each other. Individuals with poor self-esteem lack a defense against the environmental and physiological causes of mental illness. If you don’t like your body , it’s hard to feel good about yourself. Likewise if you don’t value yourself, it’s hard like your body the way it is and respect it.


How you can help yourself.

There are however certain tips we can follow to encourage a positive body image and to stop comparing ourselves to others. Accentuating the qualities you like will boost your spirits and minimize the things you don't like and to learn to appreciate our body. We need to know that we don’t need to explain our bodies to anybody. In the end, Body positivity is all about respect. All bodies deserve to be treated because they hold human beings. That’s it. No exception. Periodt.

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