Body dysmorphia is a mental health disorder that causes you to obsess over your perceived flaws. It can be hard to cope with because it’s not like other forms of anxiety that come and go. With body dysmorphia, the feelings are always there, and they never seem to go away.
If you’re struggling with this issue, here are some tips for coping with body dysmorphia:
Get the Right Diagnosis
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The most important step in getting over body dysmorphia is to get a proper diagnosis. This means that you need to find a therapist who specializes in eating disorders and body image issues rather than just going to a general therapist.
You need to know how to find a therapist who can deal with such cases. Start by asking your friends and family members for recommendations on therapists they’ve seen who have helped them with body image issues.
This is one of the best ways to find someone qualified. You can also search online and see if there are any specialized therapists nearby. It’s super convenient and will almost always suggest you qualified personnel.
Practice Self-Compassion
Self-compassion, defined as treating yourself with kindness and understanding when you’re feeling bad about yourself, is crucial in the process of healing from body dysmorphia.
It’s important to remember that being kind to yourself after a negative experience doesn’t mean you’re invalidating your pain or overlooking your flaws. Rather, it allows you to accept what happened without feeling like garbage about it afterward.
Take Care of Yourself Physically
Exercise, eat healthy food, get enough sleep and get a massage. All these things can help you start feeling better about your body and yourself. If you don’t have time for all of that at once, do what you can. Even just taking some time to go for a walk or sit outside in nature will help with the mental health aspect of your physical needs.
It’s important to listen closely to what your body needs so that it doesn’t become overwhelmed by stress or anxiety from trying too hard to make changes. You must not push yourself to the limit when dealing with such cases. It will do you more harm than good.
Be Mindful of What You Eat and How You Eat
Try not to eat in front of the TV or computer. Think about what you are eating, how much of it, whether it’s enough and when would be a good time to have more if needed. This helps curb mindless eating habits while reducing stress levels and ensuring that your body gets all the nutrients it needs during this time.
The U.S. is regarded as the unhealthiest country in the world because of its unhealthy ways of food consumption. However, don’t let that distract you from eating healthy and ensuring the best practices while you do so. Just because everyone else around you is doing so doesn’t mean you have to participate as well.
Find Something That Brings You Joy
Whether reading, fishing, or learning a new language, find something that brings you joy and improves your life. If there is something in particular that you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t had the opportunity yet, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.
Find an activity that makes you feel good about yourself while also being challenging in some way. This could be anything from volunteering at an animal shelter or participating in a marathon with your friends.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
One of the main ways we get stuck in negative thought patterns is by comparing ourselves to others. The problem with this, though, is that it will never help you improve your self-esteem or feel better about yourself. It can only make you feel worse about yourself and more depressed.
Social media makes matters worse here. It overexposes you to the idea of in-demand body types, making you feel worse about yourself. As a result, you’re constantly tempted to compare yourself and your body with that of others.
For us to be our best selves and achieve our goals, we need to change these negative thought patterns and learn how to stop comparing ourselves to others. We need to focus on our own journey instead of worrying about what other people are doing or feeling like we’re not good enough compared to them.
In the case of body dysmorphia, it’s super–easy to start looking at others and comparing yourself with them. You must remember that no two persons are alike. They are different not just in terms of appearance but also in terms of lifestyle and biologically. Thus, such comparisons are never justifiable and will only worsen your mental health.
Around one in five Americans is suffering from some sort of mental illness at any given point. Body dysmorphia is one of those illnesses. The last thing you want is your body dysmorphia impacting your mental well-being and making it worse than it already is. Thus, you must learn to cope with it and deal with it in the healthiest ways possible.
