Body dysmorphia – it’s more common than you think

It’s safe to say that self-confidence and body image go hand in hand; a negative image of yourself leads to less overall confidence. After four years of uni, I have been aware of the ever present battle between the two among the girls I have met and created friendships with.

Although this is a subject prevalent in the world of women everywhere, as a student and as someone suffering from both afflictions, I understand and am very aware of how important this issue is to so many girls and women at university.

Living with three other girls, and knowing plenty more, it shocks me how many of us have a warped body image. No matter how many times my friends or my boyfriend tell me that they think I’m beautiful, when I look in the mirror all I can see are my flaws, and it greatly impacts on my happiness. In fact, I don’t know any woman who doesn’t do the same to some extent.

The question is: why do girls, gorgeous in our own right, constantly look for things to hate about our own bodies, and how can society make us realise it’s all in our heads?

I believe the answer, as with all things to do with image, is to do with beauty magazines reminding women that they have a certain amount of time to get ‘bikini body ready’, especially now that summer is upon us.

What annoys me is that magazines not only attack larger women for being ‘overweight’ but skinny women for being ‘anorexic’, too. They then present us with airbrushed models as the ‘somewhere in between’, so how can any of us win?

The answer: If these magazines are causing more harm than good, DO NOT READ THEM.

The thought of summer should bring excitement after a year of being bundled up in Aberdeen, wearing everything we own to stay warm. It shouldn’t bring anxiety, at the thought of stripping down to our bare essentials, in case someone judges our own bodies the way we do.

The thing is, no one will be looking at a girl in a bikini and thinking: “her boobs are too small” or “her legs don’t look like Carmen Electra’s”, they will see a girl in a bikini and, more times than not, will think you look amazing.

So here is my summer plan, whether you wish to adopt it or not: Be healthy, believe you are beautiful in your own right, surround yourself with people you love and who love you back and your self-confidence will soar.

You are not as fat as you imagine: