Self-esteem and body image

What is body image?

Body image is how we think and/or feel about our physical appearance. Sometimes we are concerned with how we look or how others perceive the way we look. You may find that there are times when you like your body, or parts of it, and other times when you struggle to identify particular things you like about how you look. Body image can be things such as; 

·     Making comparisons between how you look and how others such as your friends, or individuals you follow on social media look. 

·     Struggling to love and accept your body as it is

·     Feeling as though your body shape/physical appearance is not represented in the media ‘ideals’. 

·     Hiding your body, or particular body parts because you are ashamed of it/them this may be due to birthmarks, surgery scars or acne which may affect how you feel about the way you look. 

·     Struggling to find clothes to suit your body type, this may be because you have a physical disability. 

These common thoughts and feelings about how we look are often influenced by the world around us. It can be down to what we view every day on social media sites, what we watch on television or even adverts and health campaigns targeting ‘a healthy body’. 

What is self-esteem?

Self-esteem is how you value and respect yourself as an individual, the opinion you have of yourself inside and out. Self-esteem impacts how you take care of yourself emotionally and physically and can impact on your behaviour. When you have good self-esteem, you value yourself and know that you deserve respect from both yourself and others. Good self-esteem often means you still feel ‘worthy’ even when you’re dealing with difficult feelings or situations in your life. 

Body image and self-esteem directly influence one another; if you don’t like the way you look – it’s hard to feel good about yourself. 

How can body image affect your mental health?

If you are having negative thoughts and feelings about your appearance, you may be struggling with your body image. Poor body image and self-esteem negatively impact on your mental health and wellbeing, and often can lead you into a vicious cycle of negative thoughts and feelings about yourself, impacting on your mental health further. The figure below depicts this. 

Fig. 1. The vicious cycle of poor body image and self-esteem on mental health

Having poor body image can occur at any time in your life, or continuously throughout your life, but it is common to have these thoughts when going through puberty. During puberty, significant changes occur to your body and appearance and your body releases hormones that make you more aware of these changes in yourself and others. This can often lead to feelings of:

·     Depression

·     Anxiety 

·     Isolation

·     Eating problems

·     Obsessing over your appearance

You may have found that day-to-day tasks such as eating, getting dressed or socialising with friends has become more difficult.

What to do if you are concerned with the way you look

 It is important to remember that there is not an ‘ideal’ type of beauty – beauty is subjective, and everyone has different opinions about what and what isn’t beautiful. There simply isn’t a right or wrong way to look, and its most important that you are happy in the way you look, but if you are finding you are struggling, there are some things you can do:

·     Try not to compare yourself to the images you view online and in magazines. These images are often heavily edited to make them look ‘perfect’ and don’t reflect how the person looks in real life. 

·     Check if your social media is affecting your body image and self-esteem, follow body positive influencers who can help you feel better about your body and time online. Take a break from social media if it is affecting your body image and unfollow individuals who are increasing your negative thoughts about yourself. 

·     Focus on the things you like about yourself rather than on the things you don’t. 

·     Think about the advice you would give to one of your friends if confided that they were unhappy with the way they look and remember your own advice whenever you start having negative thoughts. 

·     Spend time with others who make you feel positive about yourself, write down nice things that people say to you – not just about how you look, your friends and family value you for other reasons too. 

·     Raise your concerns with someone you trust, this could be a parent or other family member or even outside the home, it could be your teacher. 

If you feel particularly worried about body image, self-esteem and the impact it is having on your mental health, seek advice from your GP.