Body image and self esteem – why should you care?

Body image and self esteem have always been in direct relationship. The fact is that both low and high self esteem can be caused by the way we perceive ourselves. In a world where the physical appearance occupies such a high position, there is no wonder that our mind starts believing that if we are not perfect, we are not good enough.

The idea of perfection changes all the time in the modern world and what was once considered to be a perfect body can be changed in a split second. If, in the past, a woman with well defined forms was thought of as being beautiful, these days she is seen as being overweight according to the new standards.

These changes and many other factors that have to do with the perception of body image can have a great influence on self esteem. People who suffer from low self esteem are always under the impression that, whatever they do, it is not good enough, and, whatever they choose, they can never look perfect. In fact, the desire for perfection is one of the consequences of the body image and self esteem relationship.

Who feel the most impact from the relationship between the body image and self esteem?

• People with physical disabilities. Most often people with physical disabilities tend to have a very low self esteem. This is because they believe they can never get over the disability and that they are not completely normal from the physical point of view. However, some overcome the challenges, and, with help from loved ones, they can realize that they are simply amazing from many points of view.

• Women. Specialists say that these days, the direct link between body image and self esteem is stronger in the case of women than in that of men. Women are constantly worrying that they have to look perfect, to lose weight, to dress up for each event in their lives and to be beautiful for the people around them.

  Some even choose to go through painful esthetic surgeries to correct small imperfections, in the hope that they will be more confident in their own powers. The truth is that, in some cases, change can have positive effects and increase self esteem a great deal, but the increase can be only artificial and may not last forever.

• Teenagers. The fact that teenagers go through major physical and hormonal changes can greatly affect self esteem and their perceptions about life. Girls can become frustrated when they see their friends develop physically at a faster rhythm than they do, which makes them think less about themselves than they actually should. Boys go through the same problems, because they feel pressured to look great in spite of the fact that this is the age when changes can occur either very slowly or over the night in some cases.

We just looked at three categories of people who feel the most impact from the relationship between body image and self esteem and it’s quite easy to identify the issues among these people. However there are situations where it’s not quite obvious that your perception of body image is causing the low self esteem issues.

There are many cases when the low self esteem problems are completely unjustified and can have many other hidden causes, even if, apparently they have to do with the body image. The body image and self esteem problems have always been closely related, and it takes hard work to destroy this liaison between the two.  And when you are willing to do the hard work, you will feel the positive energy both physically and mentally.