Self Care to Self Loathing and Back Again
May 12, 2016Bodies change.
This wouldn’t be a big deal if society wasn’t so caught up on making a person’s weight and body the forefront of “who a person is.” The constant scrutiny that people, and specifically women, deal with when it comes to their weight and bodies triggers low self esteem, depression, and anxiety. As someone who already has depression and anxiety, I found that one of the cheapest ways to help me deal with symptoms was by going to the gym on a daily basis.
And it worked — at first. When I first began going I almost immediately felt less anxious. My depressive episodes came less frequently and lasted shorter periods of time. At long last I felt empowered in better managing and controlling the relationship I had with my mental and emotional health.
But unexpectedly, the more I went to the gym, the more I found myself beginning to dislike my body.