Body image is how one sees, perceives, and thinks about one’s body. Body image is often not based on a person’s actual physical appearance. Hopefully, you are satisfied with how you look, and generally feel confident in your physical appearance. Unfortunately, studies show that time and again that women, as well as men, usually believe themselves to look larger than are, overestimating their true size, and seeing themselves as less attractive than as others would. In some cases a distorted body image can lead to painful feelings such as depression, and lead to self-destructive behaviors, including anorexia, bulimia, exercise “addiction”, plastic surgery “addiction” and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).

For many, it simply means feeling badly about how you look, not feeling confident in relationships, and, most importantly, not living life to its fullest.

THE BODY IMAGE/RELATIONSHIP CONNECTION

For people struggling with body image issues, dating can be very painful and relationships are often unsatisfying. For those that are dating, they often feel:
  • Too fat to attract a partner
  • Insecure in social settings
  • Scared to ask out the person they really want
  • They cannot date until they lose weight/have plastic surgery etc.
  • Think they will never find anyone
  • Believe a quality person will never want to be with them
For people in relationships that have poor body image and poor self-esteem, they often:
  • Stay in unsatisfying relationships
  • Put up with hurtful, or even abusive behavior from a partner
  • Think they will never find anyone else
  • Will not ask for what they need emotionally from a partner
  • Fear being alone

BODY IMAGE QUESTIONNAIRE

The following questionnaire may help determine whether or not you suffer from a negative body image:

1. Do you often feel badly about yourself because you don’t like your body?
Yes _____    No ______

2. Do you more often than not dislike your body?
Yes _____    No ______

3. Does eating small quantities of food, even if it is healthy, make you feel guilty?
Yes _____    No ______

4. Do you of often think about changing something about your body?
Yes _____    No ______

5. Do you compare your body to the body of celebrities or movie stars?
Yes _____    No ______

6. Do you often compare yourself to others of the same sex and feel unattractive?
Yes _____    No ______

7. Have you considered cosmetic/plastic surgery to change your appearance, and feel that you cannot have a happy life without it?
Yes _____    No ______

8. Have you avoided sex because you have felt fat/unattractive?
Yes _____    No ______

9. Do you worry daily about being thin enough?
Yes _____    No ______

10. Do you have trouble leaving the house without your makeup on your hair done?
Yes _____    No ______

If you answer "yes" to at least three of these questions, you may have negative feelings relating to your body. The more "Yes" answers that you have, the more negative your body image.