Ava Kadence Jennings

The Effects of Social Media on Body Dysmorphia

Thirty to forty million Americans suffer severe body dysmorphia (or BDD-Body
Dysmorphia Disorder), most often in their teenage or young adult years; a number that has
increased exponentially since the '80s and '90s. In contrast to thirty or forty years ago, today we
have social media, which is a tool that has made it possible for people to have access to
everything that was causing a negative effect before, now 24/7. Any gen-z or millennial person
with a social media account can say they have heard from one or more people that social media
is an unhealthy force on young minds today. While this is true and there's an abundance of
studies and research to prove it, there is now a new force in the community of social media that
is pushing against the unhealthy patterns and mindsets that result from these media platforms.
In order to see the effects of social media on body dysmorphia we have to look into what BDD is
and the symptoms/severity, the ways social media has been a negative effect, and how
platforms are trying to fix the problem of overall disimprovement of health in their users.

Body dysmorphic disorder is "a mental disorder in which you can't stop thinking about
one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance," (ADAA). These flaws are often
minor or not observable but can lead to such great anxiety that one will avoid social situations
altogether. Someone with BDD might cover up their "flaws" with makeup or clothes, believe that
others judge or mock them based on their appearance, be getting cosmetic procedures done,
be preoccupied with their appearance to the degree where it causes problems in any/all areas
of their life, and more. This disorder often begins to occur in preteens as young as 12 and can
be carried to be lifelong. It can result from a variety of causes such as; brain differences, genes,
and your environment. Although it isn't very common, there can be abnormalities in your brain
structure that cause BDD. Our genes connect to that idea and stand on their own in
circumstances of blood relatives. If you are related to someone who has the same condition or
OCD, you're more likely to have BDD, but the biggest cause of body dysmorphia is your
environment. Culture and life experiences are likely to contribute to this in particular when they
are negatively affecting you (in terms of your body and self-image), but putting that aside,
there's a completely different part of our environment in which we shape for ourselves. This is
our social media.

Every time we follow someone or like something on a social media platform such as
Instagram, we craft the environment we are in online. The messages we see every day, the
people we see every day; it all forms our online environment. With social media at our fingertips
24/7, and little messages luring us back into the apps over and over again, it's almost
impossible to restrict our access or control our intake. We hear of the models, the stars, the
important people who are apparently news-worthy, and are expected to keep track of them, so
we follow them. Slowly we start to subconsciously see the pattern of who gets positive attention
and what they look like: their hair color, height, eyes, face shape, facial features, weight,
measurements, skin tone,...etc. The brain sees this and wants it. This is partially due to mirror
neurons. These neurons are part of what points out the differences between you and the people
on your feed, and we register them as flaws. Someone can tell you that everyone is beautiful
and no two people are the same but, "BDD sufferers can't control their negative thoughts and
don't believe people who tell them that they look fine." (Lexington Line). Even for people who
don't have BDD, it's getting progressively harder to believe you're beautiful when everything you
see points in the direction of the 5% of people who are seen as beautiful and known as models;
as Lizzo, a body-positive popstar, said, "It's so hard trying to love yourself in a world that doesn't
love you back, am I right?" (Lizzo 2019).

From all of the pain and silent suffering comes a positive force. There has been a new
body-positive movement sweeping across all social media platforms with a power stronger than
ever before. Influencers like Lizzo, Alessia Cara, Ashley Graham, and tons of other icons in
media today, and accounts on different platforms are spreading to create a community where
everyone is welcome, and all body types are celebrated. Actress Jameela Jamil, in particular,
has been a very influential piece in this movement, exploiting the unhealthy side of social media,
the influencers, and everything fake about well... everything. She ranges from tearing unrealistic
ideals down by exposing what's behind them, to calling out toxic influencers who are only out for
the money and causing damage to self esteems behind them. Other influencers across the
internet are trying to give the voice back to the people to share their stories so people with BDD,
eating disorders, and negative body-image can start to heal. The goal is to make every single
person feel comfortable and confident in their own skin, and they are on their way to
accomplishing it.

While we have made great strides very recently, there is still a long way to go in terms of
solving the problem of social media negatively affecting body-image and there needs to be a lot
more cooperation between all parties to remove the toxicity from our environment. Body
dysmorphic disorder is something we need to take more seriously. Not only are there people
with BDD but a large portion of our population has problems with body-image and lack of
self-confidence leading to a frightening statistic of people with eating disorders. When we know
that social media is the biggest reason this is a problem, we hold the responsibility to find a way
to solve it. Creating a more welcome environment for ourselves and others is the first step of
many to change the way we live, and it isn't something that can be crafted with a formula; it's
something we need to do for ourselves.
Bibliography:

ADAA. “Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).” ​Anxiety and Depression Association of

America, ADAA​, 2010,
adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/other-related-conditions/body-dysmorp
hic-disorder-bdd#Treatment.

Adkins, Alyce. “How Social Media Contributes to Body Dysmorphic Behavior.” ​The
Lexington Line​, The Lexington Line, 9 May 2018,
www.thelexingtonline.com/blog/2018/5/7/how-social-media-contributes-to-body-dysmor
phic-behaviors.

James, Avia. “What Everyone Should Know About Social Media And Body Image.”
Betterhelp​, BetterHelp, 29 Oct. 2018,
www.betterhelp.com/advice/body-dysmorphic-disorder/what-everyone-should-know-abo
ut-social-media-and-body-image/.