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Affects Of Self-Esteem On
Weight Problems
Being overweight is not
good. We all know that. But it’s not just the physical aspect of obesity
that we need to be concerned about. Related to the problem is the low self
esteem that many overweight people, especially children, often suffer from.
Ignoring a state of obesity is dangerous, the pressure that the modern world
places on people to look “good” create feelings of insecurity among people
who are over weight. This insecurity often starts affecting their self
esteem and this can become a major psychological problem. When a person’s
self esteem is affected, their feeling of self worth and confidence in their
abilities is reduced. The more these feelings are degraded, the more
difficult it becomes for the person to take any active steps to
cure the
obesity condition.
To lose weight, a person must want to do it. And the reasons for wanting to
do so, lies in the desire to look and feel good and earn the respect of
society in general and loved ones and business associates in particular. But
when self esteem is lost or negatively affected by being overweight, a
person’s self image is distorted and the feeling of “being a loser” sets in.
This then becomes such a driving force in a person’s existence that the
desire to look better and / or function better is lost because of a feeling
that it won’t make any difference.
Low self esteem in over weight people often begins with the cause of the
obesity. Stress is a major cause of
weight gain in women, but also in men.
Family, work and social pressures can reach a point where excessive eating
becomes a way of distracting the mind from the current pressures. In other
words, stress leads to a lack of confidence which turns into a feeling of
being unable to cope, which finds escape in distractions such as excessive
eating and drinking resulting in weight gain. So, the person who is putting
on weight is already predisposed to self confidence and esteem issues.
A Vicious Cycle
This soon begins to spiral out of control. Because of depression, weight is
gained. The weight gain leads to loss of self confidence which in turn adds
to the loss of self esteem. As self esteem is lost, so is faith in one’s own
abilities and the desire to shed weight and return to the previous level of
good health.
This vicious cycle of weight gain, depression and loss of self esteem soon
becomes self perpetuating and escaping from it becomes a task that is beyond
the individual in question. This is soon accepted and the person gives up
hope along with the self esteem. Recent studies have show that obese people
are more likely to suffer from depression, in varying degrees, than people
who are slim.
People are under undue pressure by an appearance obsessed society. Many
psychologists agree that if the pressure to look good was reduced, so to
would the negative impact of being over weight. This in turn would result in
an improvement in the levels of self esteem and a desire to lose weight and
“redeem” oneself in the eyes of society. In other words, the pressure to
look good often makes it difficult for those with self esteem issues to
control their weight. It has the opposite effect.
Those who are overweight will obviously suffer from physical ailments that
range from the minor (snoring) to the major (risk of heart attacks and
strokes). The mental consequences are depression and a feeling of
hopelessness about one’s ability to turn things around and lose weight – in
other words a loss of self esteem.
This means that any action to cure the person suffering from this condition
has to be as much psychological, as it is physical. The starting point of
any course of action has to be to raise the self esteem and make people feel
empowered once again. This is not as simple as it sounds and an overweight
person with low self esteem will need a lot of help to begin the journey
back to self worth. The best people to provide this need not necessarily be
psychologists or weight loss experts, but family and close friends who
understand the person and what he or she is going through.
The first thing is to provide the overweight person with motivation to begin
on the journey. A large amount of discussion and weighing of pros and cons
and encouragement to at least make the first few steps as an experiment
often do the trick and get the person to at least consider a weight loss
plan.
The next stage is to get the person to actually begin to take action to lose
weight. The best way to do this is to keep talking of doing things in small
steps where results can be achieved and measured quickly. A quick loss of
even a pound or two coupled with constant support and talk of the fruits of
success will help to balance the low self esteem.
Once a small start has been made, the overweight person should be encouraged
to set his or her own goals. Achieving these self set goals will immediately
result in a rise in self esteem. But the person should not be left
completely alone. Implicit and indirect support will be required to overcome
the low self esteem hurdle.
Once the person is on the road to losing weight it is a mistake to think
that the obesity and self esteem problems are gone. Facilitation in the form
of empathy, rewards, understanding and continuous expressions of admiration
for the empowerment being achieved will be needed.
Besides the support of family and friends, if support groups are available,
joining them should be encouraged. But only if they are made up of people
who have the same self esteem issues. Joining a group of people who are
arrogant about their efforts or cover their insecurity with disdain for
others, will be counter productive.
The Media Influences on our body shapes
and size
References used for
article:
Slimming World
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2294/is_n5-6_v30/ai_16098310/pg_6/
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