Causes of low self-esteem and complexes with the body in the summer

One of the most striking curiosities of the human mind is that, although we human beings tend to think that we have an essence individual and a very well defined own identity, in reality the self-esteem and the perception that we have of ourselves changes constantly; It is highly influenced by what happens to us throughout life. In other words, what happens around us influences our identity and way of seeing ourselves as much or more than the internal psychological processes.

In addition, these types of transformations do not have to take long to take place. Sometimes, it is a matter of days, and even if it happens very quickly, it is common for us not to notice the change in our way of seeing and valuing ourselves. Thus, something as normal as the arrival of summer can damage our self-esteem, in part because of what happens in the environment with which we constantly interact: advertisements of young and happy people on beaches paradisiacal, social pressure before fashions that expose many parts of the body at the same time, expectations about "romances of summer”, etc.

In these cases, it often happens that many people assume that what they feel when looking in the mirror at this time is what truly defines their identity, and that the rest of the stations have limited themselves to not thinking about what they really are, hiding it under layers of clothing... Without realizing that the summer (and all the social dynamics around those months) is not an observatory that allows us to see ourselves in a more objective way than any other season.

Thus, in this article we will address the issue of how the overexposure to which we are subjected in summer can lead to insecurities with our physique being enhanced, affect the image we have of ourselves and develop an anxiety picture.

• Related article: "Do you really know what self-esteem is?"

Why does the arrival of summer make us see ourselves with different eyes?

To understand how summer predisposes us to relate differently to our own bodies, it is first necessary to understand what self-esteem is. This is fundamentally the way in which we have learned to perceive and value ourselves.

Like all human beings without severe neurodevelopmental problems, we become capable of thinking in the concept of the “I” and we use it constantly every day (because all the actions that we carry out daily and everything that our senses register are linked to that idea of ​​the "I" are things that we do or that happen to us), this learning is constant and takes place in everyone, voluntarily or involuntary. Thus, all people with consciousness have self-esteem, because they cannot be unaware of themselves.

Now, what we are learning about ourselves is always linked to a strong emotional charge. It is not about internalizing objective information about who we are, or data about the "I" that can be reduced to words and numbers. What we know about ourselves does not leave us indifferent, always makes us feel a certain way, and has a great ability to alter our mood.

Precisely because that concept of oneself is one of the most important to survive, you must always be very sensitive to what we are experimenting by interacting with the environment to try to adapt to it... although this has its good things and its bad. For example, it makes us often not question what is the cause of a situation that makes us feel bad about ourselves; we simply focus on those feelings and emotions and assume that they are a reflection of how we react to our identity.

This is what often happens with the arrival of summer: society is transformed in a matter of a few weeks, and a series of elements are activated expectations about what we are supposed to aspire to do in these months, and what kind of (idealized) people we should aspire to look like us This means that, without realizing it, we adopt another perspective when perceiving and valuing ourselves, and that we take for good those feelings without critically analyzing why summer affects our self-esteem in such a way.

It is easier accept as revealed truth that feeling of being a failed personal project when seeing ourselves in the mirror, than trying to break down why we feel that way and why we give such a high value to how we feel in that specific situation.

• You may be interested: "How to enhance body acceptance? 10 useful tips"

This is how insecurities with our body can intensify in summer

But… What are the specific ways in which summertime affects our self-esteem and our predisposition to suffer problems of anguish or anxiety in front of the mirror? The truth is that there are hundreds of factors that can come into play depending on the person, but there are some more relevant than others. In general, the main ones are usually the following.

1. Intensification of the cult of body image

Human beings depend a lot on the sense of sight, and the progress of new audiovisual technologies and those linked to the Internet, together with the culture of immediacy that has promoted this, makes us have taken to its ultimate consequences the maxim of "an image is worth a thousand words".

This encourages us to see body image as a reflection of our identity, so it is very easy for us to automatically and semi-unconsciously become obsessed with small details of our body that we consider imperfections because they do not fit the canons of beauty. In other words, although the cult of image does not speak ill of ourselves, it does generate the conditions necessary for us to self-examine ourselves until we find reasons to feel bad about our bodies.

• Related article: "Self-concept: what is it and how is it formed?"

2. Social pressure fueled by overexposure on social media

For many people, constantly posting images of their body on their social networks is almost an obligation.. Given this, the arrival of summer exploits their own insecurities, especially considering that doing it without publishing any photographs In a swimsuit or with very summery clothes, it can be seen almost as an eccentricity or a sign that you do not have a beautiful body.

3. Gender roles and sexualization of the female body

It's no secret that women are under much greater pressure to take care of themselves and always look attractive. To this we must add that in the case of them, the value of oneself as a person is much more linked to the value one has as a sexually desirable body.

• You may be interested: "Gender stereotypes: this is how they reproduce inequality"

4. Group expectations linked to the feeling of belonging to the group

Pressure not to be the person who self-excludes from a group can also play an important factor. from friends or friends for not wanting to participate in activities that involve wearing lighter clothing or swimsuit. That is not doing so can be seen as a problem, something to be justified, something that brings up the taboo subject of insecurities with one's own body and low self-esteem.

5. Culture of extreme dieting

Finally, it should be noted that for many people the arrival of summer goes hand in hand with the need to follow diets that, although they are sold as a strategy for a healthy body, they are actually a stress and anxiety bomb due to tight control over calories ingested and the types of foods to avoid that they propose (or they can even be bad for physical health directly because they lead to malnutrition). Both this obsession with avoiding the wrong foods and the health problems they promote are elements that predispose to psychological complications such as generalized anxiety, insomnia, psychological rumination, etc.

• Related article: "The 5 best healthy diet apps"

Are you looking for psychological assistance to strengthen your self-esteem?

If you want to have psychotherapeutic support to overcome your complexes and insecurities with professional help, I invite you to contact me to schedule a first session.

My name is king pigeon and I am a General Health Psychologist for the adult and child-juvenile population; I can assist you in person or through online therapy by video call.