44% of the UK population admit feeling insecure about their body image. And according to several people who agreed to be interviewed on this matter, the media’s representation of the perfect body seems to fuel the craze for a flawless body image regardless of age.
Indeed, many people, especially women, spend huge sums improving their looks and confidence. And it is not a bad thing to want to feel more confident about yourself. On that note, below are a few things worth trying.
- Resist competitive self-criticism
For many people, self-criticism fuels the need for an enhanced appearance to enable them to stand out from the crowd. Research has also shown that adult females tend to take self-criticism to the extremes, especially during discussions about their bodies. The report said, two-thirds of UK women seem to find it necessary to downplay body parts they find ‘problematic’ to their image.
Therefore, when one woman complains about a developing baggy neck during informal chats, another finds it convenient to talk about their sagging breasts. Psychologists say this is an unhealthy practice which only promotes competitive self-criticism. Instead of adding to the negative conversation, you can take drastic steps to correct anybody flaw you find problematic.
- Seek professional help
Due to advancements in technology and medicine, it is easy to ‘fix’ one or two things with cosmetics. You can check out services like panthea.com.au for more information on your beauty enhancement options. But sometimes, body confidence issues can get out of hand and start to affect a person’s daily life. Instead of only relying on outward enhancements to obscure your anxiety, you may find it helpful to seek professional help. An undiagnosed mental health condition can be an underlying reason for the total lack of confidence in your body. That is not to say you have a mental health disorder. Indeed, it might be impossible to make that conclusion without seeking professional help first. However, extremely obsessive thoughts about your body image can be the single most important signal to find immediate help.
As already mentioned in the introduction, the media tends to make body image issues too challenging to handle. For this reason, you can take matters into your own hands by staying away from tv shows that make you feel less appreciative of your body. You may want to include magazines and any other platform that evokes these intense emotions to doubt your uniqueness.
- Think positively
‘you are what you think’ could not be further from the truth. Whatever you think about yourself becomes the standard or yardstick by which you judge your individuality. Your face, skin, body weight, height complement your confidence levels. Therefore, it doesn’t matter which beauty standards you fall into. What matters is having the willpower to think positive thoughts that build your confidence, self-esteem, and personality.
Remember that whatever you think of yourself becomes a projection of how others perceive you. So, if you give off a negative aura, people may sense that and may not want to have anything to do with you, further aggravating the problem.
In your search to gain a positive body image, always remember to do it for yourself and not fit into someone else’s definition of beauty.
