Stress related to pandemic creates negative body image among people

COVID-19, a life-threatening pandemic, has affected the mental health of people in many ways because of which, insecurities concerning body image and self-perception have also intensified. Studies conducted during lockdown state that negative body image is the result of stress related to the pandemic, impact of social media, sedentary lifestyles due to online classes and work from home, with less emphasis on weight gain or weight loss strategies and so on.

Body image refers to how one perceives his or her body and how attractive or unattractive one feels. It concerns factors such as appearance, size, shape and weight of one’s body. Negative body image is also the result of certain stereotypes and practices. The pandemic has added fuel to fire for many people who already suffer from a troubled body image. Anxieties created by the pandemic hinder the usual strategies we adopt to cope with negative self-image. Research led by Professor Viren Swami of Anglia Ruskin University in England was published in the journal, “Personality and Individual Differences”. Having involved almost 506 adults from the UK with an average age of 34, the study enunciated that stress developed due to this pandemic has generated a desire for thinness among women and muscularity among men. The researcher also added that the rise in body image issues would lead to serious eating disorders. Loneliness and depressive mood swings persuade people to pay more attention to their appearance and they end up criticizing themselves.

Being unable to socialise face-to-face, people have now become reduced to digital cocoons, and social media usage has skyrocketed in an unprecedented manner. Advertisements and videos of workouts and diet plans that are found while scrolling down social media sites and other websites might have stimulated the desire for a better body shape, thinness and muscularity, but have also damaged the positive body image of people. However, it is the way people use social media that is more detrimental. They tend to fall prey to false information perpetuated in social media such as photoshopped images and so on. Comments of viewers on pictures posted on Instagram and Facebook are highly influential. The pressure of attending online programs, classes and work seems to increase self-consciousness and it adds to feelings of anxiety.

As the traumatizing period of pandemic has confined people to the four walls of their homes, anxieties increase day by day. It is important to be kind to ourselves and to take care of ourselves. Many doctors advise us not to follow strict diet plans as they may weaken the immune system and make us more vulnerable to the virus. Diet culture further stigmatizes our body image and urges us to constantly fight with fat. Staying healthy is more necessary than nurturing a rigid body image in our minds. Losing weight may also have harmful effects on our health. Activities such as playing indoor games or reading help relieve stress. A warm conversation with parents, close friends or relatives has its own benefits in helping us cope with the situation. Moreover, a mentality to accept ourselves should be encouraged. It will help us be at peace.