Common Causes of Body Insecurity

Body insecurity can cause issues with your mental health, including depression and anxiety. You may develop body dysmorphia disorder or an eating disorder trying to attain a specific look, weight, or size.

Common Causes of Body Insecurity

Body insecurity or dissatisfaction can be behind a person’s depression and low self-esteem. Getting to the root, the cause, of body insecurity can help you move forward with treatment. Acknowledging the beliefs or events that created a negative body image is information you can use to flip negative self-talk and break long-held beliefs about yourself.

The following is a list of common causes of body insecurity.

Societal ideals.

What we see in the media influences our society’s ideals regarding body image. Movies, television, magazines, and social media show filtered, heavily edited, and enhanced images of men’s and women’s bodies that are often unattainable.

Yet, these images cause us to fret and obsess over our flaws. If you feel depressed after viewing these images, unfollow or unsubscribe from accounts and media that make you feel unworthy. Instead, opt to follow and subscribe to body-positive accounts.

Opinions of loved ones.

Our loved ones are most likely our role models and mean well. However, their opinions can determine how we view our bodies. If a family member is obsessed with the scale, you may allow that number to dictate your day, too.

We repeat the patterns from our childhood automatically unless we consciously choose to go in a different direction. It is not too late to change your habits, behaviors, thoughts, and beliefs regarding your appearance, body shape, or size.

Verbal or physical abuse.

Verbal or physical abuse from childhood or as an adult can change your beliefs about your body or appearance. If someone criticized or demeaned you about your size, weight, or looks, you may carry that voice in your head as an adult.

Words hurt and can do great damage. However, you can learn to shut down negative thoughts and change the line of thinking to positive beliefs. A counselor can show you how to get started.

Hormonal changes.

Your body and appearance can shift during hormonal changes, making you insecure. Puberty, pregnancy, mid-life, and menopause are triggers for physical changes. Although you cannot necessarily avoid these changes, you can make lifestyle tweaks to ease through those years.

Stress is another factor that can contribute to weight, size, and body composition changes. Stress triggers the release of cortisol. Too much cortisol can increase fat in the abdominal area and cause the waist to expand. Not only can you feel self-conscious about your stomach area, but a larger waist circumference is an indicator of a higher risk for heart disease.

Mental health conditions.

Certain mental health conditions can cause you to obsess over your appearance, flaws, body shape, weight, or size. Body dysmorphia disorder interferes with your daily life, and you may go to drastic measures to “fix” a perceived flaw.

You can develop an eating disorder to control your body weight or size. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating can lead to starvation, purging, over-exercise, and yo-yo dieting. Anorexia and bulimia can be fatal if left untreated.

Christian counseling.

Body insecurity, if left unchecked, can lead to dangerous behaviors, such as disordered eating or self-harm. Counseling is an excellent treatment option as you can get to the root of your anxiety and find manageable solutions. Contact our office today at Santa Clarita Christian Counseling to set an appointment with a counselor in California. It is time to kick body insecurity to the curb for good.