Body Dysmorphia used to be debilitating for me. It had become my identity. I was anorexic, I self-harmed, I was anxious, depressed, and filled with self-hatred. Once I was able to overcome self-harming, it led me to a path of learning how to cope with body dysmorphia. Here’s how I do it.

One of the first things I started doing was looking in the mirror and finding one thing that I liked. Every morning I’d do this (I still do), and it was almost always the same thing. My eyes. Through this I was able to see at least one thing that I liked, which improved my mood a bit.

The second thing I learned was that tattoos helped. I look in the mirror and see beautiful art on my body, and I am pleased. I even smile when I look at some of my pieces, and it stops me from hyper-focusing on everything I loathe. Piercings and jewelry help also.

Thirdly, I try to limit my mirror time. I’m obsessed with looking in the mirror, because I’m certain that I will suddenly develop some grotesque pimple, or a thick hair somewhere it doesn’t belong. Sometimes I’m sure I’ll have noticeable food in my teeth, even if I haven’t eaten yet.

I’ll do a part two since this is already pretty long, and involved.