Concept Paper

“How does body shaming affect the mental

health of a person?”

Submitted by: Arsan Tapie

Ilysh Tapie
Divine Grace Puedan
Elena Hulong
Alma Abela
Submitted to: Ma’am Leah Saclet Nuñez
Grade and Section: Grade 11-Tektite
Choose a Topic
How does body shaming affect the mental health of a person?

Research and Gather Information

Body shaming is defined as the act of making a negative comments about another person’s
weight and their size. This is a type of criticism that can be made to yourself or to the people
around you. You may feel unhappy and not contented with your weight or how you looks and
you negativity make a judgement to yourself. As we all know, it can be carried out in face to face
or through social media and internet. There is a possibility that your parents, siblings, friends, or
to the people you’re not even close with, has something to do in making a harshly comments
about your body image.
Body shaming has a bigger effect to our mental health in which we criticized ourselves to be
more better in the sight of judicious society. We feel ashamed to our body even though it was
part of our personality. We are not feel at ease and continue for being afraid to letting them
divide the shape of your character in who you are. Body shaming is a source of unlocking
difficulties in which makes the self-esteem vanished from inside of us.
According to research, the present study figure out the relationship of body shaming with
appearance anxiety and mental health well-being among the victims of body shaming. The
method that they use to analyze: The sample consisted of 362 participants, including 310
females and males on the other hand have 52 males of the age range 18-22 years.
As a result, the study reveals that there is no one source of body shaming, but multiple
sources, such as family, friends and social media, are the most common.

Define the Problem or Objective

Life is full of perfection, that’s why we are frightened to be a victim of humiliating body size
and weight. Body shaming truly affect the mental and emotional health of every individual, it
makes one person hated himself/herself because of what people see based on the body they
had. Lack of confidence to confront others, it shows a weakness and chain themselves in a dark
room where everyone from outside talk about him/her inappropriately.
People do body shaming because they want insecurity, social norms, best for attentions,
lack of awareness, and lastly immaturity. You know what, it was really hurt to throw a painful
words about you. We think that we are smashing like a potatoes, every word they said hurtfully
remarkable to their eyes and ears. Moreover, it change people into a worst one, affect the
behavioral of a person in which they are running wild to never close them with. Uncontrollable
feeling might be lead into eating disorder. As we think to the negative comments of others, we
forgot to eat on time.
The main objective is to identify the things that we must do to prevent the spread of body
shaming in our society. Deeper the understanding on how we should avoid this kind of criticism
to make a better life where positively grows on foster.

Introduction
Beauty is what the eye see but people seems likely judge someone based on their
appearance. As we can see ourselves in the reflection of mirror, we feel disgruntled with how
we look. Nevertheless, we certainly give a comments towards our body and wish that if we look
a specific way, it would bring more confidence in us to face the situation we are in. Most of all
the people around call you ugly if you are dark- skinned or fat like a pig or a skeleton if you are
skinny. God created a beautiful creatures in this world, no one is burn ugly it just the society
who has a problem.
Some people often source of a joke among their peers without having them realize how
much those words of them really hurt others. You aren’t tall enough if you are below five feet
and are frequently questioned, “Are you still in Elementary?” No, body shaming is truly a serious
issue in which need to be addressed. We compared our body to the other people, that’s why we
build our very own walls of criticizing about your body.
Hearing a lot of negative comments in your environment causes break down of self-care
and self-esteem. Once it happen, your whole world turning upside down because people judge
you based on what they see in your out looks. Actually, body shaming affect the mental health
in ruining the only source of strength inside of you. Body shaming is not just a merely criticizing
someone who is overweight, but even those who in the stage of being underweight.

Review of Related Literature

Body shaming involves embarrassing someone through commenting harshly about one
individuals body image. Individual seems likely experience being body shame with others,
especially in beauty pageants. Whether men or women suffer in this type of criticism. We all
know that beauty is the standards of a person’s ideal body shape, regardless of age. This will
affect the level of self-confidence because it does not only create a physical sore, but has a
chance to lead in psychological disorders and mental stress on the victim. As we jump in the
result, victims of body shaming will seriously experience higher levels of sorrow, depression,
anxiety, insecurity, grief, and self-esteem due to the path of being bullied. Furthermore, the
victims of body shaming are probably experience physical health consequences including
difficulty when sleeping, headaches, stomachaches, and general tension.
 According to Nasution and Simanjuntak (2020), body shaming behavior causes a decrease
in the level of self-esteem in adolescents because the higher the category of the body shaming
experienced, the lower the individual’s assessment of his/her physical appearance. As a matter
of fact, this will lead into a disaster where people feel unsatisfied and open to danger or threat.
You sensitively react to what others think about you because of the reason of being unsafe in
your environment. Desperately threatened others with hostile attitude due to an never ending
body shame.
In modern world where social media is highly created, appearance, and attractiveness is
essential thing to consider, especially among teenagers today. The internet now strongly show a
big influence against what the ideal person should be. As you can see the difference in social
media, it portrays the beauty and you may fall as a victim of body shaming.
Worldwide, the dominance of body shaming was found to be in the range of 25 to 35
percent. Based in one study, the total of prevalence of body shaming was found to be 44.9
percent. Meaning, every individual hardly experience the pain of words, coming from the
person who really showcase their negative comments opposed to your character. Body shaming
is considered as a poison where criticism runs in to your vain that kill you by the words they say,
also it will change what you feel and see about yourself.

Methodology
Out of 10 person only 6 person survive anxiety and depression. But 4 person cannot
survive because body shaming can trigger or worsen symptoms of anxiety and depression. It
can lead to feelings of isolation, low self-esteem, negative self-talk, and a poor body image. It
may also contribute to social with draw line and avoidance of certain situations.
Being body shame is a tough challenge, they judge others based on what they see in their
naked eye. This is a serious issue that need to prevent and pay heed. Timely occurs in the whole
world where we encounter an individual who have been unchain to the hand of body shaming.
As a result, you feel depressed and you don’t want to talk or seeing someone else. Hide in a
gloomy place where nobody will find you and likely there is no light of hope waiting. Tears in the
eyes is the only thing you feel when nasty remarks cross upon your senses.
Demi Lovato once said, “I’m not going to sacrifice my mental health to have the perfect
body.” Meaning, you do not need to do something to change it the way you are, it’s just society
who is burden to their own words. Don’t mind everything and keep confidence cover your
personality.
We often survive in having a mental health due to the harmful effects of body shaming. It
will make individual feel anxious and hatred about themselves. Additionally, another
information about mental health concerns associated with body shaming are body dysmorphic
disorder, higher risk of self-harm or suicide, poorer attribute of life, and psychological distress.
Solution
Change body shaming into body positivity. To combat this thing you must do a first move to
gain your confidence. Firstly, develop self-love, don’t conceal yourself hiding in the sombre or
disconnect yourself from others. Discover more about the deeper understanding of kindness
towards you. When you see the reflection in the mirror, try to look what have you noticed about
the stress you have been face. Control and manage stress through relaxing such as exercise,
meditation, and take a deep breathing exercises are all good ways to build vitality and prevent
you from feeling overwhelmed by negative experiences.
Secondly, erase negative self-talk, as long as you can’t handle what others say to you, you
must embrace the power to concentrate on the positive aspects of the better version of
yourself, rather than addressing on any perceived flaws. Acknowledging to accept your very own
blemishes will eventually set you free from placing unfair judgement on yourself or others.
Likewise, positive thinking can help in making you feel better about yourself and especially in
your body.
Lastly, find someone you really trust, there is a possibility that you may feel shamefaced
about admitting in someone about the body shaming you’re experiencing with, but there is no
way you can handle this on your own. Reach out to others for advice and support and let them
know alone what you have been experiencing. It’s vital to look for someone who really can trust
and feel comfortable sharing your sympathy or feeling with. Having a secure outlet to indicate
your emotions can help you cope with the tension and humiliation of being part of body
shamed.

Conclusion
In overall, body shaming can’t mirror you, because you are the image of your own
character, a character with beautiful image. Don’t let body shaming destroy your metal
health ,be confidently beautiful with your own body, you are unique and special the way you
are. Embrace the true meaning of your worth, your body doesn’t deserve to be shame , it
deserve to be love and accepted . You should be proud and told to everyone that “My
body ,my roles “ you are the ruler, you should decide.
Release stress and absorb confidence, starting fresh and understanding your true value as
a person really lighten your world. Always remember, it’s not your fault that people doesn’t
see the background of your self, because they only focus on the front appearance of you side,
so it easy for theme to judge you.
References

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?
hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=how+does+body+shaming+affect+the+mental+health+of+a+person
%3F&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1705205363382&u=%23p%3DB4xb-k_YuToJ
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?
hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=how+does+body+shaming+affect+the+mental+health+of+a+person
%3F&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1705205316354&u=%23p%3DlUMGrZOS3ekJ
https://everydaypower.com/body-shaming-quotes/
https://knepublishing.com/index.php/KnE-Medicine/article/view/13084/21130#:~:text=Based
%20on%20the%20results%20of,self%2Desteem%20in%20a%20person.
https://www.mindshiftwellnesscenter.com/the-weight-of-words-effects-of-body-shaming-on-
mental-health/