Content warning: body image issues, comparison to others, mental health issues

It’s become very highly talked about that social media can affect your mental health, especially body image.

A 2019 report on body image by the Mental Health Foundation said that just over 1 in 5 adults, and 40% of teenagers, said that social media has caused them to worry about their body image. The numbers are worrying and chances are they’ve increased in the last couple of years or so. The 40% of teenagers especially is worrying to me, because I know how difficult it can be to come to terms with your body and accept it as a teenager when everything feels like it’s changing, and how easy it is to compare yourself to others online.

Unfortunately, I also know the difficulty of trying to navigate teenagedom in the world of social media. Instagram in particular is a platform that seems to impact body image a lot, although TikTok is also starting to be talking about for its effect on body image too. In fact, I uninstalled TikTok very quickly after installing it because I found myself comparing my body to other people that I saw on the app, and I just knew that it was unhealthy for me. Instagram, however, has been a bit more of a bumpy ride.

I think part of the reason why Instagram is able to affect body image so easily is because by nature, it is photo sharing app and therefore there will be full of photos of people and their bodies. But it is a photo sharing app on which many images are edited. Which means it’s very easy for people to compare themselves to other people – who may not even look like the person in the photos they post. But Instagram is also great for finding fun posts and just sharing your life with your friends, which I think is why I don’t feel that I can just stop using it. So instead, I’ve been working on finding ways to make Instagram a nicer place for me to be.

I’ve compared myself to other women on Instagram for a while, and although I have some absolutely gorgeous friends, it’s normally not people I know, as they and their lives seem more perfect. It was often models, or just attractive girls that I’ve happened to find on my explore page. They all had features that I wish I had, or “better” versions of features that I’m insecure about on myself. It’s out of jealousy, and insecurity, and even though I knew that and that it wasn’t a good thing to do, I was finding myself searching for the accounts of these women and scrolling through them for ages. I was comparing myself to them in their posts, and scrolling through the hundreds of comments saying they were gorgeous, knowing that nowhere near that many people would say those things about me.

This comparison habit has made me feel plain, undesirable and very insecure.

So what did I do? I blocked them.

I’ve felt a little bit guilty about this, because they hadn’t done anything other than look gorgeous and post photos of it, and so it felt like they didn’t really deserve to be blocked. I always thought that you only blocked people when they did something wrong, like harass you. But it was the only way I’ve managed to stop myself from searching for their accounts and scrolling through them. Granted, I could just go to my settings and look at the list of blocked accounts, and click “unblock” and scroll through their posts. I have done that a couple of times, before quickly blocking them again. However, for the most part, I steer clear of their accounts and I can’t compare myself as easily.

I didn’t expect this to be as useful as it has been. I felt a bit silly at first, but sometimes now I forget that I even have those accounts blocked because I just haven’t looked at them for a while. Sometimes I will see articles/press coverage about some of the models I have blocked and it’ll make me want to look at their posts and compare again, but I do my best to fight it. I remind myself that even if they have features that I want and they look beautiful, it doesn’t stop me from looking good too. Someone else’s beauty doesn’t take away from my own; this is a point that I have been consistently trying to remind myself of.

Of course I know that these women probably have insecurities about their bodies too, but I’m not in their head. To me, they’re everything I should be, and it’s just not healthy to compare myself to strangers like that. Maybe one day I’ll be able to unblock them, once I’m more secure in myself. But for now, they’ll stay in my blocked list, and I’ll just follow/look at the people who make me feel good about myself. If you’re struggling with comparison of your body to others on social media, I highly encourage you to try out blocking people that you find yourself repeatedly comparing yourself to in case it helps.

A list of creators who I enjoy the content of and who make me feel better about myself (physically and/or mentally), all from Instagram (there are many more of them but these are some of my favourites):

• Megan Jayne Crabbe – @meganjaynecrabbe – body positive content as well as self love content and generally uplifting posts and positive reminders even when the world seems terrible
• Katie Budenberg – @katie_budenberg – body confidence content in addition to posts about feminism and self love, also sex positive content focusing on reducing stigma around self pleasure
• Jessie Paege – @jessiepaege and @healthismentalandphysical – content about body confidence, mental health awareness, eating disorder recovery, feminism and social issues
• Yolanda Espericueta – @yolandainthecity – posts about fashion and body confidence, particularly focusing on confidence with a smaller chest
• Clara Macciocchi – @claraandherself – posts around self love, confidence, and anxiety awareness
• Mirrors Reflect You @mirrorsreflectyou – uplifting reminders around mental health, confidence and self love, edited onto gorgeous mirrors
• Michelle Elman – @michellelelman – posts around a variety of topics, mostly covering life coaching advice such as around boundaries, dating healthily, and self confidence