If you feel inadequate, annoyed or depressed when you look at people on social media who appear to have perfect bodies and lives, you are not alone.
The effect of social media on the image The body of adolescents and young adults is well known among mental health professionals. And a September Wall Street Journal article revealed that Facebook knew that its owned Instagram actually made teenage girls feel bad about their bodies .
Consumer Reports’ own research has found that social media use can have negative emotional effects. Our nationally representative survey (PDF) of 2, 263 US adults conducted in August 2021 found that about 1 in 4 (26%) people who ever had a social media account said feeling jealous or bad about herself after looking at someone else’s social media posts. Among the people who have deleted or stopped using any social media platform, the 11% said that one of the reasons they did it was because it caused them anxiety.
Whether you are watching Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or any other social media platform, it is natural to be envious of other people’s lives. But envy can quickly turn destructive, damaging your feelings of self-worth, distorting your self-image, and disrupting your life. That is why it is important to know that there are ways to get help.
Next, we explain how you can detect body image problems, we investigate their root causes and we talk about body dysmorphia, a more extreme condition that involves an unhealthy obsession with the body or a particular body part. If you are looking for resources that can help you now , you can consult the list we have compiled.
You feel bad about your body
Social media can fuel anxiety about body image and deflate a person’s self-esteem. Pictures of celebrities, influencers and even friends showing off their abs or bikini photos from their last vacation can lead to doubt , making people wonder: Am I good enough? How can I get rid of abdominal fat? Am I Eating Too Many Carbs? Should I go on an extreme diet or fast?
Those concerns don’t always lead to more serious problems, says Caroline Fenkel, a certified clinical social worker and clinical director of Charlie Health, an organization that specializes in adolescent and young adult mental health. “There are many people who have body image problems and continue to eat in a healthy way , they eat what they want.”
But when you are obsessed with your body image or feel anxious about a specific part of your body, and then you feel a compulsion to act on that obsession, that is body dysmorphia, an obsessive compulsive disorder that has its roots in anxiety, says Dr. Arpan Parikh, a private psychiatrist who works with patients in New York and California, including those with body image issues and body dysmorphia. “It can involve the compulsive attempt to fix that part of the body, either, for example, through plastic surgery or exercise,” he says.
In some cases, isolation during the pandemic has Made matters worse, as many people have had limited personal contact with friends and family and rely on social media much more than before.
Children ages 4 to 15 years passed a 76% more time spent on social media apps in 2020 what in 2019, according to a report by the parental control software company Qustodio. Before the pandemic, social media apps were mostly used after school hours. During the pandemic, children used social media apps throughout the day, says Qustodio.
For many young people, body image issues can crop up almost as soon as they have access to social media, says Fenkel. The concern about looking slim can start right away. And it can intensify quickly, affecting eating and exercise habits.
Why? Even a simple search for healthy recipes on social media can lead you into a den, heading for “thin inspiration,” or images and content that encourage people to maintain a very low body weight, says Fenkel.
Although debates on body image problems tend to focus on women and girls, they are not the only ones with this problem.
“Boys and men they really have a high rate of body image problems, “says Fenkel, but it may sound different when they talk about it. “They can talk about bulking up or going to the gym or something. In general, they do not talk about feeling bad about themselves or their body. ”
Transgender people and non-binary ones can also have body image problems. Some research has suggested that trans and non-binary people subjected to harassment and discrimination may have more problems with body image and lower self-esteem.
How to seek help
Although body image problems may seem insurmountable, there are various ways to counteract negative feelings about your body.
Be skeptical of what you see on social media
Often times, the social feed created by someone you follow is carefully crafted. Remember that what you see in the social networks is only one side of the person, the side they want let others see, says Fenkel. What you can’t see are the flaws.
“It is very important to help teens and young adults to recognize that this is just one aspect of this person’s life that they are showing you”, Fenkel says. It also suggests reducing your use of social media and stop following accounts that make you feel bad about yourself.
Find people with whom you can relate
Look for people who understand what you are going through. Even knowing that you’re not the only one feeling bad or jealous after checking your social media accounts “can be a really therapeutic and healing thing for teens and young adults who are struggling with this,” says Fenkel.
Peer support can be more formal, such as in group therapy or simply with your group of friends.
“Surround yourself with people who affirm your value and do not ask you to change to be worthy of their affection, to the extent that you are capable, “says Rachel Fox, a fat studies scholar and Ph.D. candidate at UC San Diego, who proudly calls herself fat. “Look at all the body types you can” to remind yourself that slimmers aren’t the only ones, says Fox, who is also the lead author of an article titled Working Toward Eradicating Weight Stigma by Combating Pathologization , which was published last year in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
Make an evaluation
To help you determine the severity of your body image problems, you can take a questionnaire or a self-assessment , such as the one published by Bodywise, a program offered by the Center for Eating Disorders, a non-profit organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Even if you don’t have an eating disorder or body dysmorphia per se, an online assessment could help you understand your feelings and see if you could benefit from professional help. You will evaluate how your appearance makes you feel, how your clothes fit, how often you look in the mirror, and how you feel about food.
You can also check with your insurance company by calling number on the back of your insurance card to see if they offer or cover mental health screenings.
Contact a helpline
If you or someone you care about needs help urgently, here we tell you how to get it quickly:
Crisis text line: Even if you don’t consider the situation to be a “crisis”, you can reach a trained crisis counselor by texting the word HOME to 741741. Counselors Crisis Text Line are volunteers working for non-profit group profit and can provide free confidential support the 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
National Alliance on Mental Illness Helpline: NAMI, a nonprofit organization, has a help you can communicate by calling 800 – 1111-6264, from Monday to Friday of 01 am to 10 pm ET. You can also email the organization at info@nami.org. On the other end of the line or message, you will be reaching out to a trained staff member, intern, or trained volunteer with a mental health condition or caring for someone with a mental health issue, so they can relate to it. trouble. The organization can offer support and referrals to mental health resources.
. Mental Health and Substance Abuse: The SAMHSA National Helpline is available at 800 – 662 – 4357. And not just for people with substance abuse problems. It’s a free, confidential phone line provided by the Department of Health and Human Services that can direct you to places where you can get information for both substance abuse and mental health issues. You can also find a mental health provider using the SAMSHA Treatment Services Locator .
Consider consulting a professional
A mental health professional, such as a social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, or other counselor, will begin by asking you questions to form an overview of what concerns you.
The professional will want to know what are the problems that concern you, how you face them and how your relationships affect your life, says Parikh, a psychiatrist who is also the lead director of clinical experience at Ro Mind, a platform that creates virtual mental health treatment plans for people with anxiety and depression. They will ask you about your environment, the people you surround yourself with and the insecurities you may have.
As you answer the questions, you will learn more about yourself and better understand where you come from, how you do you feel, how long have you been feeling this way and what made you seek help. They will then work together on a treatment plan that may include tera pia, medications or both.
In addition to going to the aforementioned hotlines to find a mental health provider, you can ask your GP to treat you, use the tool American Psychological Association locator to find a therapist or use the locator tool from the American Psychiatric Association to find a psychiatrist who can prescribe medications . You can also check with your insurance provider on their website, mobile app or by calling the number on the back of your insurance card.
Students: Your school may have resources for you
Due to the effects After the mental health pandemic, the Department of Education has new funding for schools to hire social workers, counselors, mental health and behavior specialists, and school psychologists. So if you’re comfortable, check with your counselor or your school’s main office to find out what’s available to you.
Consider Color Communities
The stigma related to mental illnesses and to the therapy and drugs used to treat them is beginning to diminish. But stigma still exists, especially in some communities of color, due to general mistrust of the healthcare system and drugs that affect the brain, says Parikh.
A survey conducted in early this year by Harris Poll on behalf of the National Alliance on Mental Illness revealed that People of color with mood disorders , a type of mental illness, reported having more difficulty opening up to others about their condition compared to Caucasian people.
With that in mind, Parikh says he strives to be honest with patients about the medications, how they work, how they should help, and what some of the side effects might be.
“I think that sometimes part of the mistrust is due to people not knowing what to expect and not being informed about side effects or possible risks “Says Parikh.
But as we become more comfortable talking openly about mental health, therapy and medications,” little by little we are seeing that part of that barrier called stigma begins to disappear, ”says Parikh.
Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2021, Consumer Reports, Inc .
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers in this site. Consumer Reports is an independent nonprofit organization that works with consumers to create a just, safe, and healthy world. CR does not endorse products or services and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2021, Consumer Reports, Inc .