People who tend to hate mirrors and their own images, unfortunately, come to the point where they compare their reflection to a monster.
First, after learning about body dysmorphic disorder in more detail, let’s look at the shocking words that the subjects in the research on the subject said about their mirror images and themselves.
People with body dysmorphic disorder believe they are ugly and are obsessed with their appearance.
Body dysmorphic disorder is an individual’s obsession with the points that he sees as “flaws” in his own appearance. People with this disorder believe they are misshapen or ugly.
As such, they become obsessed with the perceived or imagined flaws in their appearance. This obsession is so intense that it reaches the level of “disorder”. Sometimes they can spend hours looking at themselves in front of the mirror.
Although they hated mirrors, they could not stay away from them.
Researchers from England’s City University shared excerpts from interviews with patients with body dysmorphic disorder, particularly how they felt in front of mirrors.
They all hated mirrors. Some describe them with various curses, while others say, “I can’t stand them being everywhere anymore.” but they couldn’t stop themselves from looking in the mirror.
An interview was conducted with 10 people with body dysmorphic disorder.
Interesting results emerged in an interview with a group of 10 people with body dysmorphic disorder. Of course, 10 people is a very small number. Therefore, generalizations about the disorder should be avoided.
There is still much more research to be done on the subject, but what some of the participants in this interview have told are truly astonishing as well as heartbreaking.
Participant 1:
I look like a monster. I kind of don’t feel human. Sometimes I really feel like this. I look sick. Just like in movies people make up. I feel like I should moan from sickness.
Participant 2:
I once looked at myself in the mirror for 11 hours. When I look in the mirror, I keep looking until I make peace with the image I see there. Sometimes this can take a few minutes, as anyone would. I try to get to a point where I feel good enough to go out and let someone see me.
However, the longer I stay in front of that mirror, the worse everything gets. And during this time, when I am stuck, I cannot do anything, I cannot choose. If someone comes and tries to help me, I can’t walk to open the door, eat, drink or go to the bathroom. I’m totally stuck there.
Participant 3:
Everyone, everyone is beautiful. I just feel like I’m ugly. I feel like I’m in the same category as “tree man” or “elephant man”. I’m lower than everyone else. I should be on freak shows. I must be the big and fat person in the movies.
Participant 4:
I really can’t explain to you why I have to look in the mirror so often. One day, I tried to count how many times I looked in the mirror and the last number I could remember was 68. In times like these, I don’t even think about leaving the house.
Participant 5:
If there are no mirrors, I feel a little lacking. I really feel like some kind of addict. Just like the first thing in the morning; I feel like I should look in the mirror. I couldn’t even think of talking to someone. This is why I struggle with the idea of relating to people.
The “unrealistic standard perception of beauty” that society imposes on us and of which we are unwittingly a part of this wheel has serious effects.
As you can see in the examples above, individuals with body dysmorphic disorder spend every day in pain and struggle. It is not known what might have pushed them to this point, but we should avoid making comments about people’s appearances, even if they are well-intentioned.
The standard perception of beauty we create, unfortunately, causes many of us to feel ugly and accordingly our psychology is affected. In fact, every person has a unique and unique beauty. It’s obvious that we’ll feel much better when we stop sticking to unrealistic standards of beauty.
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