The refusal to accept anything short of perfection; perfectionism. The desire or need for perfection appears to plague more individuals than not, and is resulting in damaging beliefs surrounding self worth leading to the detriment of mental health.  The impact of unrealistic expectations can be so harmful that teens and adults alike, will do almost anything to feel “good enough.” Thankfully, with the right support, resources, and positive reinforcement, we can help shape and change individuals’ goals, views of themselves and overall mental health.

A lot of our body image in our adult years stems from our younger years. This is an age when filtering out hurtful and untrue messages was hard because we were not cognitively or emotionally mature enough to fully process these thoughts and oftentimes are not equipped with the tools to combat diet culture, especially from loved ones. The views of our bodies can shape our views of self and have a damaging ripple effect on overall self-love. Although we cannot go back in time and pluck out those thoughts we can challenge ourselves to deprogram the hurtful and unproductive messages we picked up when we were younger and to speak to ourselves and others with the gentleness that our younger selves deserve!