Body image
How you feel about your body can take up more room than people realize. Explore the pressures around you and find a way to talk about their effect on your life.
The context around your body matters, too.
Body image includes thoughts and feelings about your body. Culture, images, comments, relationships and changes in life can all be part of the context.
Concerns can affect people of different ages and genders. You do not need to match an appearance or body-size stereotype to talk about the impact.
Based on Mental Health Foundation
Look at the pressures and the effect on your day.
- Around you
Images, comments and expectations
- Your experience
Thoughts and feelings about your body
- Everyday impact
Time, plans and relationships
- Relevant support
Help for the difficulty you want understood
Your experience includes more than how you look.
Body image concerns how you think and feel about your body. Social messages, relationships and life circumstances can influence that experience. The useful question is its effect on your life, not whether your appearance meets a standard.
Context
What situations or messages make the concern more difficult?
Daily impact
Is it affecting relationships, activities or care?
Support needs
Would a conversation, practical adjustment or health assessment help?
Based on Mental Health Foundation
Explore the experience you want to understand.
These pages explain different patterns. Choosing one does not suggest a diagnosis.
Where is the concern taking up room?
Prompts about daily life, not an appearance assessment.
Comparisons
Comparison leaves less room for things you enjoy.
Comments & images
Comments or images affect how comfortable you feel.
Time & plans
Appearance worries take up time or affect your plans.
Eating-related concerns
Concerns about eating or your body make daily life harder.
Based on Mental Health Foundation · NHS
Ask about the effect on your life.
A professional can explore distress and functioning. Persistent appearance preoccupations and eating-related difficulties may need different assessment routes; body-image concerns alone do not establish either diagnosis.
EDE-Q is an eating-disorder measure, not a generic body-image or attractiveness scale. Its purpose and current access limits are explained in the eating-disorders hub.
Based on Mental Health Foundation · NHS · Centre for Research on Eating Disorders at Oxford
- 1What takes up time?
The worry and its effect, rather than an appearance description.
- 2What has become harder?
One ordinary activity you would like back.
- 3What support would help?
Someone to listen, useful information or professional assessment.
Describe the impact, without an appearance score.
You can leave out details you do not want to share.
A pressure around you
An image, comment or expectation that feels difficult.
Something it affects
Time with people, concentration or a plan you miss.
Something you want help with
Understanding the worry, support or an assessment conversation.
Based on Mental Health Foundation · NHS · Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
You can explore support without changing your appearance.
You can choose what feels useful, with room for your circumstances and preferences.
Based on Mental Health Foundation · NHS · Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Different concerns can need different kinds of care.
Distress about appearance does not automatically mean BDD or an eating disorder. A professional can explore the pattern, including checking, avoidance, eating concerns or physical-health needs where relevant.
You do not need to upload a photograph, compare measurements or obtain an appearance score to ask for help.
Based on Mental Health Foundation · NHS
A little clarity. A place to start.
Explore a tool, prepare a conversation or find someone to talk to. Choose what feels useful to you.
No self-test for this topic is currently offered on Selfmora. You can use the free guides below to prepare a conversation or find support.
Prepare for a conversation
A few prompts to help you explain what you have noticed and what you would like help with.
- A simple notes builder
- Copy your notes to keep
- No account needed
You decide how much to write and share.
Find your wordsFind your next kind of support
Explore where to begin with everyday support, professional help or an urgent conversation.
- Ways to ask for help
- Country-specific crisis contacts
- Support at your own pace
If you need urgent help, go straight to support.
Find supportYour first sentence does not need to be perfect.
You might begin with how much time a concern takes or a plan it has interrupted. You do not need to persuade someone that your body looks a particular way.
Based on Mental Health Foundation · NHS
“Concerns about my body are affecting my day. Can we talk about the time they take and the support that might help?”Make it sound like you
Your questions, with room for nuance.
You can read just the answer you need.
Is a body-image score an appearance rating?
No. Body-image information concerns experience and impact. It should not be used to judge attractiveness, shape or personal value.
Based on Mental Health Foundation
Where this information comes from.
Use this hub to learn and prepare questions. It does not diagnose you or recommend a personal treatment plan. By Selfmora editorial; sources checked . Updated .
Additional explanations and examples: sources consulted . Examples illustrate ideas; they do not assess your personal health. Your questions
- Body image
- Body dysmorphic disorder
- Eating disorder measures and usage terms
- Improving body image: adult information