Modelling and Body Dysmorphia

Jade Kidd
Feb 22, 2017
3 min read

In my last post, I shared the story of Victoire Dauxerre a model who had battled anorexia in a bid to maintain her 'perfect' size zero figure. Now I want to delve deeper into anorexia and body dysmorphia and how easy it is to fall into the trap of not eating in such a high pressured environment. Many models, both men and women like Victoire have experienced body dysmorphia and anorexia.

What is Body Dysmorphia?

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) as stated on the NHS website is an anxiety disorder that causes a person to have a distorted view of how they look and to spend lots of time worrying about what they look like.

The typical behaviours of someone with BDD are:

- Spending a large amount of time in front of the mirror

- Constantly comparing themselves to others

- Spending to covering up what they consider to be imperfections

- Becoming distressed by a certain part of their body

- Feeling anxious around other people and avoiding social interaction/situations

- Being secretive and reluctant to ask for help

- Seeking medical treatment such as cosmetic surgery to rectify what they don't like about themselves

- Excessively exercising and dieting

Whilst almost everyone is unhappy about the way they look at some point in their life, for body dysmorphia sufferers this can turn into a long-term problem which can plague the majority of their lives. According to the NHS website, it is estimated that up to one in every 100 suffers from the condition.

However, this estimation may be incorrect as people often hide the fact that they have the condition. Models play a huge part in this estimation as they are more likely to suffer from this condition as their job is judged on their weight and body image, which I personally feel is extremely superficial.

Body Dysmorphia can affect anyone at any age. People with low self-confidence, people with family members who also suffer from the disorder, teenagers who are sensitive about the way they look, obsessive compulsive disorder sufferers, anxiety sufferers and depression sufferers are usually the most affected. BDD can also coincide with or cause other disorders like anorexia, depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm and bulimia.

Body Dysmorphia can also be directly linked to anorexia. According to the NHS website, Anorexia nervosa is a serious mental condition where a person keeps their weight as low as possible. They can do this by missing meals, making themselves sick and obsessively counting calories amongst other things.

In 2007, Ana Carolina Reston, a model originally from Brazil died as a result of complications due to anorexia. At the time of her death, Ana weighed just eight stone. This is not the only case, in 2010 male model Jeremy Gillitzer also died of anorexia.

Writing this is extremely frustrating for me. There isn't much help to combat this. This week I read an article written by The Telegraph stating that thousands of teenagers and children suffering from anorexia are having to wait months for help. This is devastating. If more time and money was invested into mental health, maybe we wouldn't have to witness these situations. It shouldn't be treated as such a taboo subject.

I believe that schools should be educating both girls and boys as boys tend to suffer more in silence, on anorexia, bulimia and other disorders and encouraging students going through this to talk to them. By doing this, the number of cases would decrease and many lives could be saved.

Going back to my first post, I feel that if there was more of a variety of models in the industry and they were given just as much publicity as skinnier models, people wouldn't feel the need to look like what society deems to be 'perfect'. It could reduce the number of anorexia cases worldwide. Also, as the NHS websites for Body Dysmorphia and Anorexia nervosa state, there are many ways in which sufferers can seek help: through counselling, support groups for eating disorders and even talking to their GP. If we help stop the problem before it starts to get out of control, we wouldn't hear of so many tragic deaths at the hands of body dysmorphia and anorexia.