HOW BODY ISSUES AFFECT TEENS

Have you ever felt as if your body is unworthy of loving? If so, then this article is for you.

Social media has been an amazing thing for us, providing us with information and the ability to express ourselves, but every good thing has its downfall and body issues are one of them.

With the rise of social media, teens all over the world are on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. On all these platforms are influencers.

They tell us what to buy, wear and look like. To teens like me these influencers have perfect bodies. In our minds these influencers set an unspoken rule on what you’re supposed to look like to be presentable, and obviously when you don’t look like that you get frustrated and angry at your body for not looking like theirs. We compare ourselves to these people, we look at ourselves day in and day out running our fingers down a face full of acne wondering if the reflection we see in the mirror will change. If only our cheeks couldn’t look so bloated, or our hips would just stop growing.

We walk through school hiding our faces afraid someone might notice us. What’s truly worse isn’t when you’re stuck in those thoughts, it’s when your peers think the same. You can hear them, can’t you? They’re whispering about how wide you are or how they can fit their hand around your wrist. You hear them whisper about how the clothes you worked so hard to pick out look childish or stupid. They ridicule you for not being able to buy the most expensive shoes out there.

You’ll flop onto your bed with a sharp pain in your chest and think the same thoughts once again. Why did I have to be born with such an unwanted body, if only there was a way you could fix that. Maybe you can. You find yourself back in front of the mirror, your unwanted reflection staring back at you. Before you know it, a makeup brush goes down your face to cover the pimples, blackhead and bruises that made living in your skin unbearable. You force yourself not to eat, because maybe you’ll be thin like the girls online.

After starving yourself for hours you eat and eat with a lump in your throat thinking about the extra pounds you’ve added but you can’t stop.

I know what this is like, that’s why I’m here to talk about it. I want you to ask yourself the new clothes you bought, the makeup you’re wearing, and the things you’re eating. Are you doing them for others or yourself? Are you truly happy, are you able to look at yourself straight in the mirror and love what you see? why are you keeping it to yourself, are you afraid of being vulnerable? I know I was I was afraid of being myself. People made me believe that because I was tall and larger than the others, I couldn’t do anything the others did. Even if my body naturally had something that was very sought out for in our culture, people managed to make me feel as if I should cut it off completely. There was an unspoken rule for the things I couldn’t do. I couldn’t cry because I was too big for that, I couldn’t play with the others because of my height, I couldn’t dream of marriage because there would never be a guy that would accept me for my height.

I remember a day when I finally broke down and began to shed big, fat tears but when someone looked my way all I saw was looks of disgust and confusion. Years later I hit my head on the fence and the pain was so unbearable my eyesight felt as if it was giving away. I put my head down and quietly told myself they would never see me cry. Some people were kind enough to stop and ask if I was okay. That simple act of kindness was enough to make me want to cry even more. When writing this I realized I never properly thanked them and acknowledged them as much as I did the mean people. So, as I go to thank them, I want you readers to do the same.

I know there are people that still feel this way, so I have a message to those who are in this situation. Remember to stay strong, do the things that you want to do, be around the people that bring joy into your life. Do the things that make you happy because I want you to be happy, I want you to live life unafraid.

I hope this message helps you as much as I want it too and I hope that you’ll stick around for more of these articles.