Body Image Issues: Causes, Signs & Treatment
Most people usually have a moment, sometimes regularly, when they catch their reflection in the mirror and feel judgmental. This sense of judgment usually fades quickly, but some people might find it lingers and shapes how they view themselves overall.
“Body image” refers to how you think and feel about your physical appearance. When this perception is constantly distorted and critical, it can have a negative impact on your confidence, along with your overall mental health.
Body image issues vary from person to person, coming from a variety of potential causes. But knowing more about what can drive negative body dissatisfaction can improve your relationship with your self-esteem and emotional well-being.
To help in this process, this page will cover:
- What shapes body image and why it can become distorted.
- Common signs of body dissatisfaction and body dysmorphia.
- How negative body image can impact your overall mental health.
- Ways to protect your body confidence and body acceptance.
- When professional support may be needed.
How Body Image Can Become Distorted
Body image is something that forms gradually, shaped by everything from personal experiences and relationships to cultural messages taken in over the years.[1]
For example, media exposure often factors in, as constant exposure to edited and unrealistic images can create a distorted baseline for what a body is supposed to look like. Over the years, this can make having a normal human body type feel like a personal failure, or even an embarrassment.
Additionally, our early relationships are a big factor. Comments from peers, parents, or partners about appearance, even offhand ones, can leave a lasting impact. A child who gets teased about their body can end up feeling self-image discomfort well into the adult years.
Cultural and societal pressures can’t be ignored, either. Some communities ascribe a lot of worth and desirability to appearance, which can reinforce the idea that how you look directly correlates to your value.
Finally, personal factors like a tendency toward perfectionism, past trauma, and existing mental health conditions can all intensify how critically someone views their own body.
What Is Body Dysmorphia?
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental health disorder involving ongoing preoccupation with perceived flaws in your appearance — flaws that are usually minor or not visible to others.[2]
BDD typically interferes with someone’s ability to live day-to-day and gets in the way of their functioning and relationships. For this reason, if body image issues are leaning into this disorder, it’s important to recognize the signs.
Signs of Body Dissatisfaction and Body Dysmorphia
Body dissatisfaction can look many different ways, with the signs ranging from some discomfort to more distressing patterns (including body dysmorphic disorder). The signs of body dissatisfaction typically include:
- Constant negative self-talk about your appearance: Regularly criticizing your body, internally or out loud, especially compared to others.
- Excessive looking in the mirror (or avoiding it): Constantly checking on yourself for reassurance — or avoiding mirrors and photos altogether so you don’t have to see yourself.
- Comparing your body to others: Measuring your appearance against other people you see in person or on the internet.
- Trying to hide your appearance: Wearing specific clothes or makeup to hide perceived flaws, even when this feels tiring and restrictive.
- Asking for constant reassurance: Consistently asking those around you if you look okay, even when their reassurance never feels like enough.
- Skipping social situations: Missing out on events or activities due to the fear you’ll be judged by how you look.
- A preoccupation that disrupts your day-to-day life: Spending major time each day thinking about your apparent flaws to the point that it gets in the way of work, routines, or relationships.
These last two signs are typically what distinguish body dissatisfaction from body dysmorphia, the latter of which is a diagnosable mental health condition.
Negative Body Image and Mental Health
Having a negative body image doesn’t just affect how you feel about your looks and appearance. Left unaddressed, it can impact several other areas of life, including your mental health and daily functioning.
Below, we discuss some of the common negative impacts of poor body image.
Anxiety and Stress
Frequently worrying about how you look, sometimes known as “appearance anxiety,” can create big stress in social situations and work environments. This kind of anxiety usually gets worse before events that can involve photos or unfamiliar people.
Depression
Feeling chronically dissatisfied with your appearance can also make you feel sad and hopeless, doing damage to your self-image and self-esteem. This can make it much harder to do the things that would otherwise bolster your outlook and mental health.
Lower Self-Esteem and Worth
Self-esteem and self-worth can get wrapped up in your appearance when body image issues go unaddressed, making setbacks feel more personal and self-critical.
Increased Risk of Eating Disorders
Severe or prolonged negative body image issues can also be a risk factor for eating disorders, including restrictive eating patterns, binge eating, and purging. While not everyone with body image issues develops an eating disorder, the connection is nevertheless well-documented.[3]
Social Withdrawal and Isolation
Some people might begin avoiding social gatherings to manage their distress. Over time, this withdrawal can deepen their feelings of loneliness as they’re cutting themselves off from friends and loved ones.
Addressing negative body image issues as early as possible can help prevent these broader effects from getting worse. The earlier these patterns are recognized, the more manageable and adaptable to shift and change they are.
Mission Connection is here to help you or your loved one take the next steps towards an improved mental well-being.
How to Be Protective About Body Confidence
Protecting your body confidence and practicing body acceptance can take practice and effort, especially in a modern culture that constantly reinforces people’s appearance-based value. However, the long-term effects are worth it.
Some protective steps you can take include:
- Paying attention to what you take in online, unfollowing or muting accounts that make you feel bad or cause constant comparisons.
- Challenging automatic negative thoughts, including stopping and asking yourself if you would talk that way to someone you care about when any criticisms bubble up.
- Focusing on function over appearance, noticing when your body allows you to do the things it should, such as walking or getting you through a demanding day.
- Practicing body neutrality, accepting and caring for yourself as a redirect from forcing negativity (or even positivity) on yourself that doesn’t feel right or natural.
- Setting boundaries around discussions about dieting, nutrition, exercise, or appearance-based criticism.
- Prioritizing how you feel, not just how you look. Choose movement, food, and rest based on how they make you feel and not just how they might change your appearance.
All of these practices work gradually and take dedication. But, over time, they can help you build up a steadier and less appearance-dependent relationship with yourself and your body.
Professional Support for Body Image-Related Issues
While many of the self-guided strategies mentioned can help with everyday body dissatisfaction, some patterns are entrenched enough to need extra support from a trained professional to help you recover.
You may want to think about getting professional support if your body-related distress is getting in the way of daily activities and functioning. Becoming seriously preoccupied and spending significant time on looks-related rituals can all be signs to take seriously.
Furthermore, if body image struggles overlap with signs of an eating disorder, such as restrictive eating, binging, or creating other rigid rules around food, then it’s vital to find support as soon as possible. Waiting for things to potentially get better on their own can result in a spiralling of symptoms with time.
How Treatment Can Help
Treatment for body image issues usually includes some component of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which can help you identify and challenge distorted thought patterns about your appearance.[4]
Other approaches and treatment modalities can help you address potential underlying factors and dual diagnosis issues, like past trauma, anxiety, or depression, all of which can contribute to negative body image. These options include psychodynamic therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), amongst others.
For body dysmorphia specifically, a combination of therapy and sometimes medications can be effective in helping manage symptoms. Treatment is usually designed around the severity of these symptoms and how much they’re getting in the way of daily life.
Get Support for Body Image Issues With Mission Connection
If negative body image is impacting your daily life, help is available to build a more accepting, loving relationship with yourself. At Mission Connection, we offer personalized outpatient treatment tailored to your unique needs. Our expert clinical team provides a range of evidence-based mental health treatment approaches.
In addition to standard outpatient care at our locations in California, Virginia, and Washington, we also offer more intensive levels of care, such as a partial hospitalization program (PHP) or an intensive outpatient program (IOP). We are Joint Commission-accredited and in-network with most major insurance providers.
To find out more about our in-person, virtual telehealth, or hybrid program that combines in-person and virtual care, call us at 866-833-1822. You can also get started online.
Body Image Issues FAQ
If body image issues are something you deal with regularly, you might have some questions about why they happen and what they mean for your well-being. To help bring some clarity, we’ve provided the following answers to FAQs on the topic.
Do men experience body image issues?
They definitely do. Body image issues can impact people of any gender, though it can look differently for everyone.
Many men tend to focus on being muscular or lean, while pressures around general thinness are usually more common touchpoints for women.
Is body positivity the same as body acceptance?
Not quite — body positivity focuses on loving your body, which sometimes can feel unrealistic on harder days. Body acceptance focuses on treating your body with the respect and care it deserves, no matter how you feel about it at any given moment.
Can negative body image improve without therapy?
For some people, it can, especially with consistent practice and boundary-setting. However, when distress is ongoing or connected to disordered eating, professional support is always the safest route to go — and usually supports more lasting improvement as well.
Does having body image issues mean I have an eating disorder?
No, not necessarily. Many people experience body image struggles at times without developing an eating disorder.
Having said that, ongoing and chronic body dissatisfaction is a known risk factor for other mental health disorders, so it’s worth keeping an eye on alongside any changes in eating patterns.