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What Is Body Dysphoria? Understanding the Disconnect Between How You Look and How You Feel

Body dysphoria can cause a great deal of self-consciousness and discomfort. You might feel uneasy, dissatisfied, or disconnected from your body, any of which can make daily life challenging. Though it takes time, it can get better.

What Body Dysphoria Can Feel Like

Body dysphoria can come in different forms. You might experience:

  • Feeling uncomfortable in your body, even if nothing has changed. Wondering how people will judge how you look, wanting to crawl out of your skin.
  • Fixating on specific features or perceived flaws. On a daily or near daily basis, spending a great deal of energy on or thinking about your body or face.
  • Avoiding mirrors, photos, or certain clothing. Some avoid tight clothes, baggy clothes, or looking at themselves.
  • Feeling like your body doesn’t reflect who you are. You may feel that various parts of your body are shaped wrong or that they aren’t your own.
  • Constant comparison to others. Comparing yourself to people you know, those on TV, or those on social media. 

Sometimes, these feelings can be loud–so intense that you want to jump out of your skin or refrain from social events. Other times, they’re background noise; speckles of discomfort that don’t stop you, but still make a mark on your day or disrupt your overall sense of comfort.

Understanding body dysphoria—woman looking in mirror feeling distressed, illustrating the disconnect between self-perception and identity

Body Dysphoria vs. Body Image Issues — What’s the Difference?

Body image issues tend to fluctuate. It’s a sense of dissatisfaction that can be fleeting and is often influenced by societal standards. For example, the need to be muscular or thin. Body dysphoria tends to describe a deeper, more persistent distress. It can fall under the category of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a diagnosable condition in which the compulsive focus you feel about your body or face affects your quality of life or ability to do things like work, go to school, or attend social events.

What Causes Body Dysphoria?

Most people notice that a combination of different things influence how they feel about their body. Factors can include:

Mental Health Conditions

Mental health conditions like depression and anxiety can contribute to distorted perception or emotional discomfort. They may cause low self-esteem, negative thoughts of yourself, and fear of what others will think.

A lot of people find that their brain takes feelings of anxiety and depression out on their body. In this case, you might notice an uptick of negative body thoughts when you are more anxious, stressed, or depressed.

Depression can have severe impacts on body image. It can foster feelings of shame, self-hatred, or low self-worth. This can create a cycle of dissatisfaction and poor self-talk. It may also affect your self-care and ability to socialize. Depression treatment often helps people change unhelpful thoughts and behavior patterns to break free from the cycle depression causes.

Anxiety, stress, and overwhelm can also cause or contribute to body discomfort or dissatisfaction. It is easy to feel disconnected from, and therefore uncomfortable with, your body when you’re in a fight or flight state. Learning coping skills through anxiety treatment can help you manage these thoughts mindfully.

Eating Disorders

Discomfort with your body, whether mild or severe, can pair with eating disorders, but it doesn’t always. For those who do experience eating disorder behaviors–including restrictive eating, binging, purging, and excessive exercise–distorted body perception is almost always present. It can get worse if left unaddressed. 

With anorexia nervosa, disturbance related to body weight or shape or self worth influenced by one’s body are often prevalent symptoms. They are listed in the diagnostic criteria for the disorder.. Anorexia nervosa treatment will help you address this, lowering your distress and giving you the tools needed to address these feelings. Despite what people think, you can have anorexia regardless of how much you weigh: the distress can present no matter what, too. 

Similarly, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder can cause body image distress. You may attempt to compensate, shame yourself after a binge, attempt to start restrictive diets, or engage in other unhealthy behaviors, often causing a seriously uncomfortable and painful cycle. These conditions are a lot more complex than many people think. It isn’t easy to change, and it’s not about willpower. Like with anorexia and other eating disorders, formal treatment is required. 

Even people with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) can have body image distress. Individuals with ARFID don’t restrict the type of food they eat due to feelings or thoughts about their body. It stems from things like sensory sensitivities, lack of interest in food, or fears about things like getting sick from food. But, difficulties with food and how ARFID behaviors affect your physical health can start to cause body dissatisfaction or feelings of disconnect.

Trauma or Past Experiences

A great deal of people with severe body image distress have trauma or past experiences that contribute to symptoms. Things people have said to you–such as in cases of bullying or criticism from others, whether a parent, peers, coaches, or someone else–might replay in your head and make it feel impossible not to be overly self critical, let alone confident. 

Traumatic events (regardless of time) can cause a great deal of stress. They can affect how you feel about yourself and are associated with conditions like depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Regulating your nervous system and improving thought patterns through PTSD treatment can help.

Cultural and Social Pressures

Body image issues tend to stem from cultural and social pressures, but ongoing feelings of distress or discomfort can, too. You might notice that social media, comparison, or unrealistic standards make you feel worse about your body to the extent that it does become more ongoing and more likely to affect daily life functioning.

Specific environments may also feed body dissatisfaction or self-consciousness. Being around people who create a culture of harmful talk about bodies, or being part of some types of sports, for example, can be a factor for some (there are ways around this–these can be addressed in therapy).

When Does Body Dysphoria Become a Bigger Concern?

When do feelings of disconnect or dissatisfaction become something more? Here are some signs that body dysphoria is not so fleeting.

  • It’s affecting daily life
  • Avoiding social situations
  • Thoughts feel constant or intrusive.
  • Influencing eating, exercise, or self-worth.

If it’s taking up more space than you want, it may be worth talking to someone. You don’t necessarily have to have a diagnosable condition to see a therapist or to get support for body image related concerns, though if you think you might, it’s important to seek help.

How Body Dysphoria Is Treated

People with body dysphoria deserve help regardless of gender, age, and weight. Treatments often include:

  • Therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and body image work guided by a licensed mental health professional can help you navigate body dysphoria. They can support you with things like reducing time spent on social media and finding ways to navigate other triggers, like being around certain people or environments that make it worse.
  • Nutritional support when relevant. If you have a disordered relationship with food, a registered dietician can help. Looking for someone who uses a HAES approach and works with your specific concern (e.g., disordered eating, eating disorders) can help. 
  • Addressing underlying conditions. Concerns like body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), anxiety, depression, and PTSD shouldn’t go unaddressed. By improving your overall mental health and addressing body image or related issues, distress related to your body should dissipate.

People sometimes have reservations about seeking mental health treatment. Finding the right provider(s) matters. BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ affirming, and trauma-informed therapists are out there and are examples of providers who may make getting help more accessible.

You Don’t Have to Feel This Way Forever

Many people don’t recognize what they’re going through at first. There can be a fine line between “everyone feels that way” and body-related distress that disrupts daily life. For a quick self-check, ask yourself:

  • Do I think about my body more than I want to?
  • Do I feel disconnected from how I look?
  • Are these thoughts affecting my mood or behavior?
  • Does it affect my ability to interact with others or do the things I want to (e.g., hobbies, dances, being in pictures, seeing friends)?

Even if these patterns have affected you for a long time, there’s very much hope that things can get better. You don’t have to feel this way forever.

Finding Support for Body Dysphoria

Acknowledgement is the first step. Willingness to change negative thought patterns and behaviors doesn’t always happen right away; it can take time, patience, and building self and body trust through therapy. 

If body dysphoria resonates with you at all, talking to someone can help you understand what’s going on and what to do next. 

Contact Sanford Behavioral Health to learn more about our in-person and online care options. We have eating disorder specific and mental health pathways for people facing a wide range of concerns.

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