Mental Health

According to Marriam & Webster, body image is defined as “a subjective picture of one’s own physical appearance established both by self-observation and by noting the reactions of others.” Girls scrolling on Instagram or TikTok see female models that are thin and think they should look like that. However, in reality, these models weigh twenty-three percent less than the average woman and are often using PhotoShop to modify their bodies. Girls then create this image of what they want their body to look like and start to feel insecure about the way they look.

These insecurities often lead to Body Dysmorphia Disorder, or BDD). BDD is a mental illness that causes girls to obsess over a flaw they have or imagined to have about themselves. People with body dysmorphia will spend countless hours trying to fix their “flaw.” Which causes girls who struggle with body dysmorphia to become twenty percent more likely to experience depression before reaching adulthood.  

A common occurrence with BDD is avoiding school or after-school activities due to insecurity about looks. Over 70% of fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen year old girls will do this. Many girls will refuse to participate in sports with skin-tight uniforms, such as volleyball and cheerleading uniforms, due to the belief that they don’t look “good enough” in it. 

Girls who have BDD will often engage in bad habits or activities that they later tend to regret. One study concluded that teenage girls who are insecure about their appearance are four times more likely to participate in sexual activities with boys that they later regret. Other studies found that 75% of girls with low-self esteem about their looks are more likely to engage in cutting, bullying, smoking, drinking, high risk sexual behaviors, and eating disorders. 

When girls are insecure about their looks, they will often resort to dieting or fasting in order to control what their body looks like. It is believed that as many as twenty million American women will experience an eating disorder sometime in their lifetime. This is about 12% of the American female population in America as of 2022. 

There are a total of twelve eating disorders, two of the most common are Anorexia Nervosa (commonly known as Anorexia) and Bulimia Nervosa (commonly known as Bulimia) 

Girls with Anorexia will restrict the amount of food they eat and exercise regularly to make themselves skinnier. On the other hand, girls with Bulimia will binge-eat and then throw up the food they ate, or take laxatives, to decrease their weight.

Not only is social media and the internet one of the root causes of eating disorders, but it also encourages women and girls to continue down that self destructive path. 

The pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia movements, movements that encourage anorexia and bulimia, have been located on websites and social media throughout the internet. 

These websites and social media posts promote pictures of thin celebrities and other anorexic/bulimic women as a source of inspiration. They also provide tips for “becoming thin, hiding eating disorders, suppressing hunger, and keeping stomach acid from harming teeth” (Ma, par. 8). 

These websites and social media accounts will brainwash girls and women who express concerns about their eating disorders by reinforcing the need to be anorexic and bulimic. These groups support and validate the idea of losing weight through the use of eating disorders.

Unfortunately, eating disorders are potentially life threatening and can create many harmful effects for someone’s body. Many girls with eating disorders are hospitalized in order to reach a healthier weight. 

Some negative effects of eating disorders include cardiovascular and gastrointestinal system failure. 

• • • Muscles are the first organs to break down due to your body having to consume its own tissue for fuel. The human heart is a muscle and the risk for heart failure rises the longer someone has an eating disorder.
    • People with eating disorders are more susceptible to bacterial infections as well as blocked intestines due to large masses of undigested foods.
    • Binge eating can also cause the stomach to rupture while continuous vomiting can cause the esophagus to rupture, both of which are life threatening emergencies. 

Not only has body standards influenced eating disorders, but it has also persuaded more women to get plastic surgery in attempts to create the desired figure, caused by unhealthy obsessions from comparing themselves on social media platforms, and has been known to have negative effects on mental health. 

There has been a large increase in the number of plastic surgeries since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. This is due to an increased social media usage which has caused girls and women to spend longer times scrolling through social media platforms. As a result, they have been exposed to more false body standards and have subconsciously started trying to reciprocate these standards in themselves. One way to achieve this goal is through plastic surgery. In 2019, there was a thirty-three percent increase in breast augmentation, the most common plastic surgery in the world. A well-known plastic surgeon in Charlotte, North Carolina has reported that his business “boomed” after the pandemic with many people wanting plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures. He reported that many people wanted to get procedures done because they had started to recognize small flaws in their bodies and faces. He attributed this to increased time on the screen and increased social media usage. 

A recent study conducted by the journal Body Image also concluded that the more time women spend on social media, the more likely they are to have an obsession with comparing themselves to other women on social media or in their life.Most commonly, girls and women will compare their bodies to those of their peers. In doing so, this creates jealousy and hatred. Additionally, this obsession creates psychological and emotional consequences. 

Another study at the healthcare institute, Florida House Experience, showed that eighty-seven percent of women compare their bodies to others. Also, fifty percent of these women view their body as ‘unfavorable’ in comparison to that of celebrities, peers, or other women on social media. This unhealthy obsession causes girls and women to try to alter their bodies to look more similar to those of famous celebrities or their peers in hopes of gaining more positive attention. 

The more time spent on social media, the more detrimental it is for mental health. Social media has also been known to trigger or worsen some genetic and psychological predispositions. Research has shown correlations between social media usage and psychological disorders. Although it has not been officially proven, it is known that it can worsen pre-existing mental health issues. Many common mental health issues commonly attributed with increased social media usage include: depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. 

Overall, social media has many negative effects on women’s mental health and physical well-being. The body positivity movement is an effective way to decrease insecurities, mental health illnesses, eating disorders, amongst others. The body positivity movement is a movement that reinforces that societal ideals about body standards are worthless. The body positivity movement promotes women of all shapes and sizes. The three main goals of the body positivity movement include: the promotion of all bodies, helping others build confidence and love their bodies, and address and eradicateunrealistic body standards. One proven way to fight body standards and insecurities is to get rid of social media. Many girls who took a break from social media have reported feeling less insecure, loving their bodies, feeling happier, etc.

So, I dare you, regardless of your gender, to take a break from social media and see how much happier you are.