How physical activity and exercise can improve your BDD?

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We all know that regular exercise is good for our body. And exercise is also one of the most effective ways to improve our mental health. Regular exercise can have a profoundly positive impact on depression, anxiety, ADHD, and more. It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps you sleep better and boosts overall mood. Evidence indicates that modest amounts of exercise can make a difference. No matter your age or fitness level, you can learn to use exercise as a powerful tool to feel better.

How much exercise should I be doing?

We are recommended that adults should aim to be active daily and complete 2.5 hours of moderate intensity activity for a week (30 minutes for 5 times a week). It may sound like a lot, but it isn’t as intimidating as it first appears. We will help you to get started!

How should I get started?

 You can start by going on a walk, doing housework and gardening. These all are physical activities. Also, you can invite your friends to exercise together. Social support is a great motivator. Sharing your experiences, goals and achievements will help you to keep focus and enthusiasm.

Integrate it as a part of daily life

 You can adopt a more active lifestyle by simply doing daily tasks more energetically or making small changes to your routine like walking up of stairs instead of taking elevator, doing housework, quick walking and walking the dog.

Overcoming barriers

It can be a bit difficult to make changes to your life and most people get worried about trying something new. Some common barriers, such as cost, injury or illness, lack of energy, fear of failure, or even the weather can hinder people from getting started! Practical and emotional support from friends, family and experts really does help!

Body image can be a barrier to do physical activity. People who are worried about how their body will look to others while they are exercising may avoid exercise as a result. Exercising with a companion can also help to reduce anxiety about how your body looks to others and may be particularly helpful during the first few exercise sessions. The environment can also influence how you feel; gyms with mirrored walls tend to heighten anxiety, as does exercising near a window or other space where you might feel ‘on show’.

Image from whyiexercise.com

6 benefits of exercises:

1. Reduce stress

One of the most common mental benefits of exercise is stress relief. Working up a sweat can help manage physical and mental stress. Get sweaty – exercising can reduce stress and enhance our body’s ability to deal with existing mental tension. It’s win-win!

2. Boost happy chemicals

Exercise can release endorphins that create feelings of happiness and euphoria. Studies have shown that exercise can even alleviate symptoms among the clinically depressed. In some cases, exercise can be just as effective as antidepressant pills in treating depression. Getting a happy buzz from working out for just 30 minutes a few times a week can instantly boost overall mood.

3. Improve self-confidence

Physical fitness can boost self-esteem and improve positive self-image. Exercise can quickly elevate a person’s perception of our attractiveness. It is self-worth! For an extra boost of self-love, take that workout outside!

4. Enjoy the great outdoors.

Find an outdoor workout that fits your style, whether it’s rock-climbing, hiking, renting a canoe or just jobbing in the park. Also, all the Vitamin D acquired from soaking up the sun (Remember to wear sunscreen!) can reduce the likelihood of experiencing depressive symptoms. You can just book a spa day when there is a little fresh air and sunshine. And exercise can work wonders for happiness and self-confidence!

5. Increase relaxation

A moderate workout can be the equivalent of a sleeping pill. Doing physical activity for 5-6 hours before bedtime can raise the body’s core temperature. When the body temp drops back to normal a few hours later, it indicates the body that it’s time to sleep.

Working with Photoshop Ain’t Real

We all know that how Fashion Industry and media spread an unhealthy view of today’s teenagers. Our perception of beauty is significantly influenced by the media outlets like magazines, TV and social media. They craft the idealised standard of beauty and humanity and from their creation are born the desire to become the idealised form. Theses trend create an unrealistic standard that we feel we have to live up to. Sometimes we find ourselves judging and comparing our own lives with the updates, tweets and photos from the media. In fact, this demanding beauty standard is difficult for people to reach and the comparisons we make can cause feelings of inferiority that lead to low self-esteem. It has additionally been associated with higher rates of developing serious mental health issue like Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). It is “a preoccupation with what they imagine to be a defective body part or a distorted view of some small and insignificant defect.” As BDD often takes hold during the teenage years when one is very vulnerable to be affected by the Fashion media, many assume that teenagers are more likely than others to get this disorder. My friend Annabel is working on a campaign to promote and generate awareness in terms of the Fashion Industry affecting teen mental health. Please check out her campaign to know more about how fashion industry and media affect teenager’s mental health and we can strive to make a change:

WordPress: http://photoshopaintreal.wordpress.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/photoshopaintreal/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/psaintreal

Just Feeling Bad About Your Body?

It is usual to hear someone complaining about their body or expressing dissatisfaction with a particular body part. In our culture, we are intervened with the detective concepts of body perfection to live in a society that constantly reminds us: ‘we are not good enough!’. It has become so commonplace for people saying self-discouraging expressions like, “I look so fat” or “I hate my body”. Commonly, we are so harsh on ourselves and judged by our appearances strictly against the ‘ideal’ standards to view ourselves only in terms of how we look instead of what we can do.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Eating Disorders

There are researches has discovered the harmful consequences of this mindset. It has been studied that when a person experience negative body image, he/she will often go to dieting as a solution. A disordered body image is a substantial component of eating disorders and plays a significant role in developing eating disorders. It has also shown that the individuals who have low-esteem are usually connected with health-compromising behaviors in adolescence like eating disordered problems, suicide-ideations and substance abuse.

While BDD doesn’t only happen in cases of individuals suffering from eating disorders, it will happen to be some overlap between suffering from BDD and eating disorders. Also, if BDD remains untreated for a long period of time, it will possibly turn into an obsession with different body parts and can develop into an eating disorder, including bulimia and anorexia. People who are suffering from anorexia express an extremely distorted body image because they are obsessed by an devastating fear of being ‘fat’ and a preoccupation that no matter how much weight they lose, they are still not satisfy with it. Therefore, they often see themselves as being much more “fat” than they actually are or they are even despite being underweight. Overweight people can also suffer from BDD if they focus extremely on one aspect of their body appearance, rather than their overall health.

Allulah Willis is known for Demi Moore and Bruce Willis’ daughter. She has bravely opened up about her past issues with eating disorder and how she battled with substance abuse and depression. She admitted that she was diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder when she was 13 and had an eating disorder issue that has trouble living her life in the public eye dues to her famous parents.  She said:

“I struggled a lot when I was younger. Like I’m diagnosed with body dysmorphia with reading those stupid f–king tabloids when I was like 13 and feeling like I was ugly, like always. I believed the strangers more than the people that loved me because why would the people who loved me be honest?”

She was mentally broken down in tears when she started to read the comments by others, saying she is a hideous, disgusting-looking person and how she is an unattractive human being. It wasn’t just about the anonymous cyber bullies but she became her own worst critic. She shaved her hair off before Christmas and started to abuse drugs when her depression became devastating in college.

Tallulah decided to seek help that she knew she needed to go take care of herself. After her sister Scout Willis ‘forced her to see what she was doing’, she checked into a treatment facility for 45 days to battle depression and drugs. She is now ‘starting to feel OK’ about herself after seeking treatment in rehab. Her recovery journey wasn’t easy and takes a long period of time knowing to completely love herself and have no problems.

Over 30 million people are thought to suffer from some type of eating disorder but only a small minority will ever seek treatment, either out of fear embarrassment or a lack of awareness about the signs. The treatment that can offer understanding how the brain analyzes this kind of unique visual information may help to treat the patients.  The best solution is to find a therapist who was capable of diagnosing the BDD in addition to the depression and to work elements of addressing that into sessions. It is the best learning way to address anxiety and understanding the self as a whole huge unit of attributes and skills and feelings. People with BDD can be able to place their body as not being the center of whether they are valuable individuals or not.

References:

Daily Mail Australia 2015, ‘I thought I was a hideous, disgusting-looking person’: Demi Moore’s girl Tallulah Willis on battling her demons and life after rehab as she celebrates six months sober, Daily Mail Australia, viewed 9 September, 2016, < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2902083/Tallulah-Willis-opens-rehab-celebrates-six-months-sober-saying-needed-ake-care-myself.html#ixzz4JprxR3n9 >

McCallum Place 2016, ‘Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Eating Disorders’, McCallum Place Eating Disorder Centers, viewed 9 September 2016, < https://www.mccallumplace.com/dysmorphic-disorder-and-eating-disorders.html >

McConville, S. 2014, ‘Body Dysmorphia And Its Relationship With Eating Disorders’, Eating Disorder Hope, viewed 9 September 2016, < http://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/body-image/body-dysmorphia >

Weller, C. 2015, ‘Anorexia And Body Dysmorphic Disorder Come From The Same Place In Your Brain’, Medical Daily, viewed 9 September 2016, < http://www.medicaldaily.com/anorexia-and-body-dysmorphic-disorder-come-same-place-your-brain-324932 >

 

 

 

Barbie Wannabe: The truth behind Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Plastic Surgery

We all have whined about the way we look on occasion like bigger eyes, a v-shaped face, a smaller nose or a slimmer waist. But for people who have Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) this concerns is constant that they will go shocking lengths to change or cover the way they look. People with BDD are 15 times more frequent in patients to seek for obtaining plastic surgery. Moreover, BDD patients have been found to have an increased tendency toward performing violent or threatening behaviours toward their surgeons.

To a person who has BDD, happiness is always related to beauty. Although this person may even look beautiful to others, they are often defeated by negative feelings about their appearance. Alicia Douvall, a former English glamour model and also known to be Simon Cowell’s ex girlfriend is a self-confessed plastic surgery addict. She had spent over £1m on over 350 plastic surgery procedures all over her body such as injections of Botox and fillers, nose jobs, remove implants and a rob and toes shortened with a goal to look like a human Barbie. She told the surgeons she wanted to be ‘perfect’. Surgery is the primary thing she wanted to spend money on.

However, the surgeries didn’t give her the look she wished to have but it ruined her body, her face and even her relationship with the person who means a lot to her, her daughters. She mentioned that her surgery addiction was driven by her undiagnosed battle with BDD. She said: “I was on anti-depressants because I was so upset about what I had done to myself and it was my psychotherapist who suggested I might have dysmorphia”. She was also sent to rehab where she was treated like other addict. There was lots of psychotherapy that they helped her to build herself up from scratch. After the therapies, she believes: “I may need surgery again to correct damage caused by too many operations, but I won’t if I can help it”.

Douvall’s plastic surgery obsession is not just simply vanity. It is BDD. It is a psychological disorder manifesting in a perceived flaw of the person’s body appearance. She believes that her obsession to look beautiful is caused by an unhappy childhood, with her father calling her ugly. She had her first breast enlargement as a teenager when she was a glamour model that earned a huge amount of income. Although the changes she paid for her appearance, she was never believed being beautiful enough.

She is now recovered and has survived these challenges of her life. She is having a stable relationship with an anonymous billionaire who helped her bounce back in the right shape and mindset. During an interview, Douvall warned plastic surgery striver that undergoing the operation is not a cure for life’s insecurities and problems.

When BDD is behind cosmetic surgery addiction

BDD patients always display unrealistic expectations about surgery. They may think that the operation will lead them to a better relationship or a higher paying career. In some cases, it is disturbing for some BDD patients to have more and more cosmetic surgeries in desperation to achieve that ‘perfect look when they are satisfied with their cosmetic surgery results. Unfortunately, in their pursuit of perfection, they end up diminishing rather than enhancing their natural beauty.

Does Cosmetic Surgery really help Body Dysmorphic Disorder?

Plastic surgery can enhance the spirit and the body. Its many advocates can boast the physical and mental benefits. However, behind the growing popularity of cosmetic surgery always lies insidious factors like peer pressure low self-esteem, bullying and even Body Dysmorphic Disorder. When there are pre-surgery screening points toward BDD, the patient should be referred to a psychotherapist or a mental health treatment.

Reference:

Fletcher,V. and Petre, J. 2013, ‘Why did nobody stop me wasting £1m to be the world’s most nipped and tucked woman? Alicia Douvall’s 16 boob jobs, six nose jobs and 308 cosmetic treatments’, Daily Mail Australia, viewed 7 September, 2016, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2297998/Alicia-Douvall-Why-did-stop-worlds-nipped-tucked-woman-wasting-1m-16-boob-jobs-eye-watering-308-cosmetic-treatments.html >