Body Image Issues and Your Mental Health

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• Body Image Issues and Your Mental Health
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• Mental Health Quote

Body Image Issues and Your Mental Health

How’s your relationship with your body? How do you see yourself? These might seem like odd questions, but when it comes to your mental health and wellbeing, they’re important.

Body image issues are common. Most of us can find flaws to pick on and things about our bodies that we’re unhappy about. However, for about 2.4 percent of the United States population—2.5 percent of women and 2.2 percent of men (American Psychiatric Association, 2013)—body image issues are severe enough to qualify for a disorder called body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). For people with BDD, body image concerns seem to dominate thoughts and emotions and limit behaviors. Worries may or may not relate to weight. If they do involve weight concerns and impact eating, an eating disorder can develop in addition to BDD.

Whether or not your concerns about what you believe are defects in your appearance qualify for BDD, body image issues can severely impact self-esteem, overall mental health, and your sense of wellbeing. They seem truthful and cause you to see exaggerated flaws. Worse, you might even believe that these “flaws” define you. These are distorted beliefs, and seeking assistance from a doctor or mental health professional can help you realize that you aren’t flawed, nor are you defined by your appearance. You don’t have to continue to suffer.

Resource:
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.

Related Articles Dealing with Body Image and Self-Esteem

• Body Dysmorphic Disorder
• Body Image Problems Stop Hating Your Body!
• Body Image Questionnaire and How to Love Your Body and Yourself
• Body Image and Self-Esteem
• Don’t Let the Media Make You Insecure About Your Body
• Eating Disorders: Body Image and Advertising
• What are Eating Disorders? Eating Disorder Information

Your Thoughts

Today's Question: How have body image issues affected your mental health? We invite you to participate by sharing your thoughts, experiences, and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• Guilt vs. Shame: What's the Difference?
• Managing Anxiety When You Have Coronavirus
• What Is the Waiting Experience of a Mental Illness?
• Coronavirus Isolation Is Making Me Exhausted
• Acknowledging Mood Disorder Symptoms for the First Time
• I Lost My Sense of Self After My ADHD Diagnosis
• My Final Post as a 'Coping with Depression' Blogger
• Waiting for Your Coronavirus Test Results Is Stressful
• Life During a Panic Attack or Anxiety Attack
• Awareness of Eating Disorders in Human Trafficking Victims
• The Power of Saying 'No'
• How to Build Self-Esteem During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Job Search Depression: What to Do When You Can't Find Work
• Can the Pandemic Help Our Mental Health in the Long-Term?
• Overexercise in Eating Disorder Recovery
• The Importance of Journaling to Manage DID
• How My Anxiety Led to Binge Eating Disorder
• My Avoidant Behaviors Cause Relationship Trouble
• My Struggle with Learned Helplessness
• Journaling for Anxiety Makes a Positive Difference

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. Borderline Personality Disorder and Fear of Abandonment
2. How Having a Baby Helped My Mental Health Recovery
3. Why Should You Begin a Mindfulness Practice?

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Mental Health Quote

"I overanalyze situations because I'm scared of what will happen if I'm not prepared for it."

Read more anxiety quotes.

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