Nowadays, everyone is all talk about what we eat. We read a lot of information, both accurate and ill-informed, about what foods to consume in order to achieve optimum health. We make choices about what we put into our bodies each day and if we choose to eat a nutrient-packed and balanced diet, we are assured by the health “gurus” that we are doing what is best for our physical health.
But today, when I was driving to work and listening to a positive podcast for people like me who are 23 and are going through their fifth mid-life crisis, a question came to mind. Why don’t they talk about what we are putting into our heads? Now, I don’t mean literally. I don’t know about any of you but I don’t fancy myself as a brain surgeon, particularly considering the fact that I can’t cut in a straight line and still struggle to colour inside of the lines. What I mean is, as well as talking about the food we consume,why don’t we talk more about what information we consume, what information we choose to consume?
You see, like food, we do have a certain amount of choice when it comes to what information we take in. Obviously, just like with our physical health, we don’t really have a choice on whether we get ill (mental health problems are not a choice) but we can do our best to prevent problems arising. Just as our dietary choices can affect our physical health, our information choices can affect our mental health. Looking after both is key! If you are in tip top physical health but your outlook on life and views about yourself are worse than a bath full of cheesy puffs (i.e. awful, bad, couldn’t be worse), then what’s the point.
We take in so much information every day that sometimes, we don’t even realise if something is affecting us in a bad way. From social media posts to advertisements, conversations with friends to radio programmes and everything in between, we are always watching and we are always listening. If we read the news – and I can’t help it considering the job that I do – the huge amount of upsetting and horrific stories may make us feel bad about the world for some time. Unfortunately, the world is full of positives and negatives. The way I see it is, as long as we try to do good in our own lives, we will just have to accept that there are also negative people out there. Try not to let it get to you and you will probably be able to move on in a day or so.
It is much more detrimental to your mental health when information that you take in makes you feel bad about you. Why? Because instead of feeling that the justice system is the problem or that pollution is the problem (like you may from a news story), you can begin to believe that you are the problem. And let me tell you a little secret… COME CLOSER GODDAMIT! You.are.not.the.problem.
So what is the problem? The problem is that so much of the information out there is meant to make us feel bad about ourselves. Take advertising. Detox teas ads make us feel bloated and as if we need to rid ourselves of something from our bodies(in fact, you will rid yourselves of something but that something will be poop and nothing more as these high-priced teas are nothing more than glorified laxatives #rantover). Ads for the lottery may make us feel like we aren’t rich enough or that we aren’t living our lives to the full. Ads for supermarkets may make us feel like we aren’t adequate chefs…why does my meal never look as good as it does in the Marks and Spencers ads eh?:(
Ads are built to make us feel like we need to change because they are trying to sell a product. But they’re not all bad (you gotta love those curry sauce ads at the moment!) and it’s not only advertising that can make us feel bad about ourselves. Any kind of information from any source can, intentionally or not! Be it that blog, that magazine or even that friend, we may have many bad influences in our lives and not even know it.
In order to give a brief anecdote and considering that this is a body image blog, take myself. I know that magazines with photos of really fit, tanned and typically attractive people can make me compare myself to them and feel bad. I know that blogs about clean eating/ achieving a low body fat percentage/ restrictive diets of any kind can make me feel uneasy and even almost push me to invite ED back over for a chat again. I know that hearing people talk about their dieting and weight loss often makes me feel physically inadequate.
So what can I do? What can we do? Just like I personally choose to eat porridge and peanut butter in the morning instead of beans on toast (no reason why. I just like PB!), I can choose to take in information that makes me feel good about me. And you can too. If those magazines make you upset about your body, stop buying them. If those blogs make you obsessive about your diet, don’t follow them. If those nature programmes are making you feel guilty about your lack of knowledge on pygmy shrews when in fact, you actually don’t want to know about pygmy shrews, don’t watch them. And most importantly, if the people around you are making you feel bad about yourself, don’t spend, or rather waste, your time with them.
It’s not being ignorant or selfish. It’s about choosing what is good for you and your mind.
Remember, you are enough. And because I am enough and I have had enough (it’s late and I must sleep!), I’m not adding photos to this post. Paint your own pictures with my words!
Amy
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everybody's grand 