Silent Struggle: How Body- Checking Affects Mental Health
Silent Struggle: How Body-Checking Affects Mental Health
Written by Lily Thrope
What is body checking?
Body-checking is the compulsive act of looking at, and scrutinizing your body. This manifests as an obsessive preoccupation with your appearance and repeatedly checking your body image in mirrors or reflective surfaces, using scales or tape-measures to keep track of weight and measurements, repeatedly evaluating how your clothes look, pinching skin, among other self-destructive behaviors. In today’s social-media and appearance-world, it is easy to compare ourselves to others, especially with regard to our bodies. While body-checking might be a temporary method of attempting to feel better about certain areas of your body, it can ultimately lead to distorted perceptions and greater feelings of loss, judgment, depression and obsessional behavior.
Why is body checking problematic?
Taking a moment to glance at your appearance in the mirror, or peeking at your outfit and hair, is not considered body-checking. However, if it feels as though you need to repeatedly look at, or evaluate your body to the degree that it negatively affects your life—this can be considered harmful body-checking behavior. This tendency may ultimately lead to, or worsen, disordered eating, resulting in anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and other debilitating afflictions.
How can I stop body-checking?
There are ways to move away from body-checking. The first and most important step is to raise awareness around the habit. Ask yourself the following questions:
Why do I feel the need to body-check right now?
How am I feeling after I body-check?
How does this affect my mood?
The goal is to reflect upon, and acknowledge the answers to yourself, or the feelings that emerge, in a nonjudgmental and loving way.
Another possible method to avoiding body-checking tendencies, is to practice “substitute” behaviors. By participating in this practice, you are looking for behaviors that distract from this practice. For example, next time you find the urge to body-check, try to replace the intrusive thought or action with deep breathing, brief meditation, or an inspiring comment to yourself. This requires practice and awareness, but gets easier in time.
You might also consider temporarily covering your mirrors, or writing yourself notes with positive affirmations and attaching them to the reflective surfaces in your personal space. You can then refer to them, when the urge to assess your body arises. You may also consider disposing of your scale, if your tendency is to constantly weigh yourself.
When we are relentlessly analyzing and critiquing our bodies, we fail to recognize other remarkable aspects of ourselves, whether it’s our laugh, our quirky sense of humor or our bright smile. Remember, body-checking is different from body-admiring. Body-checking comes from a place of fear or doubt and it is a negative, disruptive and compulsive tendency. Remember, changing your body won’t magically change the way you feel about yourself. It won’t erase insecurities or negative self-talk. The bottom line is that if you are placing too much importance on your body appearance, you don’t acknowledge all the other wonderful things about you! And then how can you thrive?
If you are overwhelmed with body obsession, consider reaching out to a mental health professional. At Thrope Therapy, we offer in-person and virtual sessions designed to meet you where you are. Schedule your free 15-minute consultation today.
