Social Media and Eating Disorders Essay

The way we perceive our bodies can be influenced by internal factors (e.g. mental, emotional, historical, or physical components) or by external facts (culture, the media, or advertising). Body dissatisfaction comes in many forms and is defined in many ways and measured using a variety of techniques. The leading causes of body dissatisfaction are (1) the media as the 'ideal' body for men and women is used across all forms of media. Even low exposure can cause, especially women, an individual to feel worse about their bodies. (2) The household can also cause body dissatisfaction through mother-daughter and father-son relationships and fathers who are unsatisfied with their own bodies may communicate this with their daughters and sons. Previous research showed that the majority of people surveyed in Western society would like to lose weight, between 66-75%, with the vast majority of them being women. Gender refers to socially constructed classifications and behaviors that are considered masculine or feminine. In today's society, men are expected to conform to the muscular ideal body shape. Despite this social pressure, men report less body dissatisfaction and are less likely to be on a weight loss diet. Instead, they are more likely to participate in excessive exercise and possibly dangerous practices such as performance or image-enhancing drugs such as steroids. Women are expected to conform to the thin ideal body shape and are most likely to resort to dieting, although some will smoke, exercise, or have cosmetic surgery. The NHS states that Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental health disorder. A person with BDD becomes worried about the way their body looks which affects their ability to function normally. The flaws they see in themselves are often unnoticeable to others. People of any age can suffer from BDD but is more common among teenagers and young adults of both genders. Symptoms of BDD include: worrying a lot about a specific feature of your body, spending a lot of time comparing yourself to others, and either looking in the mirror a lot or not at all. People who suffer from BDD tend to struggle with everyday life including at work, their social life, and relationships. It can also lead to depression, self -harm and even suicidal thoughts. In 2018, 0.5% of the population suffered from BDD which is approximately every 5 in 1000 people. The rates of body dysmorphia have risen rapidly over the last few years due to generations becoming more focused on appearances (Dr Mahsa Saleki). The most recent pandemic (COVID-19) has had a huge impact on BDD rates which could be down to an increase in compulsions and anxiety over going back into the 'real world'. The new work-from-home scheme and Zoom calls also led many individuals to become hyper-aware of their appearances. An eating disorder is also a mental health disorder and is when an individual takes control of food as a way to manage their feelings and situations. Individuals adopt unhealthy eating behaviors of either eating too much or too little or worrying about body weight or shape. Anyone of any age can develop an eating disorder but it is most common among teenagers between 13 and 17. According to B-eat, in 2022 approximately 1.25 million people had an eating disorder with 25% being men. The main eating disorders highlighted were anorexia nervosa (8%), avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (5%), binge eating disorder (22%), and bulimia nervosa (19%). Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the usage of social media has risen rapidly. In January 2022, 58.4% of the world's population used social with a daily average of 2 hours and 47 minutes. The most commonly used social media platforms were Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Most recent data (2020) concluded that the age group that used social media platforms was aged 25-34 (89%) closely followed by 16-24-year-olds (88%). As new face-editing apps and face-changing apps are developed, it is no surprise that both body dysmorphia and eating disorders are on the rise. There are constantly new filters being created that give people doll-like features by plumping cheeks and lips which can be very damaging and set unrealistic expectations of beauty standards. Influencers advertise their skincare or beauty routines on social media but often use filters in the process which not only sells false advertising but also leads to their viewers having unrealistic expectations of not only the products but also themselves. In this essay, I will be looking at how social media affects the risks, positively and negatively, of body dysmorphia and eating disorders in young people aged between 15-24.

For many years social media has portrayed unrealistic beauty standards and has thus had a negative influence on many people how they view themselves. Social media provides its viewers with endless posts of the 'perfect' lifestyle and 'perfect' people. This is achieved through editing photos and using filters to achieve this image of false perfection. For example, Instagram has numerous filters which alter an individual's appearance. By seeing that someone has used a filter or has edited their photo and as a result has received a lot of attention, it may encourage viewers to alter their appearances too. Social media can be very dangerous for young people who are vulnerable to suffering from insecurity and depression. Both genders in this age bracket, are still learning about their anatomy and who they are as individuals. This combined with pressures from social media telling them that they need to be thin, curvy, muscular, and attractive can be very overwhelming. Hendrickse et al. (2017) argue that social media platforms like Instagram can harm young adults, particularly women, concerning their body satisfaction and how likely they are to compare themselves to others. The factors of body perception that were analyzed had a profound link to BDD symptoms and a positive correlation was found between the usage of Instagram and the rate of BDD symptoms. Factors such as body shame and body surveillance are also linked to body image. Those who are more likely to keep track of their body are also more likely to be affected by content that is focused on or related to appearances. Erikson studied the usage of Instagram in participants aged 18-22, both male and female, and its influence on BDD. Erikson concluded that as the rate of Instagram activity increased so did their chances of developing symptoms of BDD. The most commonly reported areas of 'concern' were either the stomach or waist and the face or specific facial features (i.e., noses, eyes, lips, etc). The Kardashian-Jenner family is arguably one of the most worldwide known celebrities and their followers mainly consist of female young adults. Kylie Jenner was only 16 years old when she had her first shot filler. In 2019, approximately 18.1 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the U.S. on young people. Facelifts, eyelid surgeries, and buttocks augmentation rates also became increasingly popular in America (2019). Of these procedures, roughly 1 million were carried out on patients aged between 13 to 29. Evidence pointed out that the reason for this increase was due to social media and the need to be 'perfect' for selfies. With BDD, social media can trigger obsessive thoughts on appearance. However, it is important to note that social media doesn't necessarily cause body dysmorphia but that it does contribute to it.

On the positive side, social media can be very influential in helping individuals build their self-confidence and self-esteem, especially for those who have poor body image. Over the last few years, the movement of body positivity has rapidly increased across social media platforms. This content generally displays non-sexualized and filter-free pictures of people with different bodies, in terms of characteristics such as body shape and size, physical ability, skin color, and gender identity. In a recent study by Manning and Mulgrew (2022), Australian women aged between 18-30 were asked to view Instagram content of diverse women. These women reported higher body confidence and happier moods after seeing a variety of these posts. They also found that the presence of body-positive posts with captions made the women feel better, suggesting that messages that reinforce the body-positive movement are more likely to reduce the risks of young women becoming symptomatic of BDD. Another study by Belle et al. 2019 found that boys view social media more positively and stated that it gave them a motivational influence on their body image. Grogan and Richards, 2002, argue that boys are more protected from exposure to aesthetic body ideals because they favor body functionality over aesthetics.

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The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) states that eating disorders are a very complex condition and that food-related disorders are a result of people attempting to cope with overwhelming feelings and painful emotions by controlling food. Image-driven social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok present followers with endless posts of photos, and videos that portray very unrealistic ideas of beauty, body shape, weight, diet, and weight loss. It's common that the people or companies that post this content always display feelings of happiness and show a lot of success from this happiness. Emotional and mental health problems such as impulsive behaviors or depression, OCD, self-doubt, or low self-esteem are considered to be underlying causes of disorders that are food-related. Therefore seeing unrealistic social media posts can trigger disordered eating habits like over-exercising or binge eating. The National Institute of Health published a study in 2007 which investigated 1765 participants aged between 19 and 32 years old to measure the rates of social media use and eating concerns. Results showed a strong association between eating concerns and social media use. A connection between appearance and fitness-focused Instagram content has been found in the risks of eating disorders (Cohen et al.,2017). Of those who have social media accounts, just over half (54%) use them to explore and share food experiences, and just under half (42%) use them to seek guidance on food. Haines and Neumark-Sztainer (2006) argue that these statistics suggest a possible correlation between social networking site content and vulnerability to eating disorders. On Instagram over 100 million posts are tagged 'health', 57.8 million are tagged 'eat clean', and 44.5 million in 'clean eating'. Orthorexia is a form of eating disorder where someone develops an excessive preoccupation with healthy eating. A survey carried out on 680 social media users who followed healthy food accounts, aged 18-32, found that 49% of these individuals met the criteria for orthorexia (Turner and Lefevre, 2017). It is important to note that social media platforms do not directly cause eating disorders, but they are responsible for amplifying them. There has been a rapid increase in young adults using social media as tools to find quick-fix solutions, which are delivered from misguided and often dangerous advice from influencers and other peers. The majority of social media platforms rely on algorithms that filter content based on user preferences and likes. For example, with TikTok, if a user likes a video of someone making a healthy recipe that is considered to help in weight loss then these videos are more likely to reappear on their feed. This regular exposure has the potential to trigger or worsen disordered eating habits and behaviors.

With social media increasing over the last few years, a lot of individuals have used it as a platform to express their feelings and issues and to offer help and tips to others going through the same thing. People who have openly discussed mental health issues on Twitter have expressed that they have found this useful in seeking support and hearing about the experiences of others (Berry et al.2017). Naslund et al. 2017 conducted a survey on social media users with suffered from mental health issues and found that sharing personal experiences and ways of coping with mental illness was the main reason for being on social media. This shows insight into how social media can potentially facilitate an informal peer support network. Another feature of modern social media platforms is that they have been trying to reduce and remove the amount of triggering content. Many platforms, particularly TikTok, have now started to place warning signs over posts that do not necessarily exceed the community guidelines, but that could potentially trigger individuals. Chelsea M. Keonengold, communications manager at the National Eating Disorders Association, states that social media has the potential to be used for good. As well as being used to raise awareness, it can also facilitate a comfortable and confiding space for people suffering from eating disorders. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram allow other users to leave comments, which can also help those suffering from eating disorders or even help to prevent them. Comment sections can now be filtered so that any form of 'hate comment' can be removed before the viewer can see it. In 2012 Instagram made some terms unsearchable to reduce the risk of its users seeing shocking images and posts that promote the ideology of eating disorders being a lifestyle choice instead of a mental illness. A spokesman of Instagram stated, 'We do not tolerate content that encourages eating disorders and we use powerful tools and technologies - including in-app reporting and machine learning- to help identify it and remove it.'

To conclude, social media may not directly cause BDD and eating disorders but it can amplify the risks of developing the symptoms. Individually, it is almost impossible to control what ends up on people's feeds but social media platforms can create algorithms that detect possibly harmful content and can remove them before other users view them. From previous research, girls aged 18-30 are more likely to be triggered by social media posts. However, male response rates from studies have been significantly low so it is harder to determine if these results are accurate. With today's society becoming more body-positive, it is allowing people to be more accepting of who they are and others across social media. Despite this, the majority of posts are still filtered and photoshopped creating a false image of what they look like. This false imagery can negatively impact other users and make them feel like they aren't 'sexy' enough or don't have the 'right' body size and shape, leading to disordered eating habits.