What keeps a negative body image going once it has started?
There are things that you may be doing to yourself that act to maintain the negative perceptions of your body. These include: Body Avoidance – Some people are so disgusted in their body that they avoid situations that might present a reminder of their appearance. This might mean: not shopping for clothes, avoiding going to the beach or swimming, not looking at mirrors, avoiding being naked in front of people (this could include avoiding sexual relationships), or not going to social events with more “beautiful people”. People may not weigh themselves to avoid thinking about their weight (Cooper et al, 2003). Although body avoidance works in the short term (i.e., you don’t feel uncomfortable at the beach), it really fails in the long term. Avoidance actually maintains a negative image of your body. You never learn that you can be ok in such situations – you don’t learn that what you might fear may not happen, or you don’t learn that what you fear really doesn’t matter. Think of this anal
