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Body
Image Problems
You
can't go out looking like this. You've scrubbed your face
three times and reapplied lotion, but you still look blotchy
and pocked. You look up and down at yourself in the mirror.
The bathroom light hitting your nose looks like the sun
rising over an Arizona rock formation. How can you talk
to anyone when you look like this? You promised your best
friend that you would go out with him, but you can see now
that you'll end up hiding somewhere while he parties.
You
pick at your cheeks. You grab the can of hair gel and try
to finger your hair a little more. Maybe that'll soften
your look so no one will notice your face.
Your
friend shouts for you to hurry up. He tells you that you
look fine. He says he likes your new shirt. Obviously he
won't mention what a mess your face is. You slam the door
and shout out to him that you're sorry, but you just can't
go.
This
chapter covers the following topics:
- Body
Image Problems
- Body
Image Preoccupations Are a Feature of Several Other Illnesses
- How
to Cope with Imagined Body Defects
This
excerpt may not be reproduced without written permission
from the publishers.
Fifty Signs of Mental Illness: A Guide to Understanding
Mental Health
Yale University Press / New Haven and London
Copyright © 2005 by James Whitney Hicks
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