The Psychological effect of Body Image on Adolescence

For individuals in the adolescent stage, there are many experiences and social pressures that they face daily. In this time of development teenagers are starting to really ask questions like â€Å"Who am I?† While teenagers are in search for answers, they are bombarded with certain influential factors that can hinder or help them. Many of the social strains assist in the individual on how to define themselves, and the position of their social stature. One factor that is especially influential in the adolescent community is body image. Body image is an issue that has always been of important consideration for teenagers. How a person looks can determine who they associate with, how they are perceived and represent their way of self-expression.†¦show more content†¦J is a 12 year old teenager who frequently judges and tries to repair his appearance for about six hours a day. Illustrated by Philips and Rogers (2011), he believed that â€Å"his head was â€Å"too big,â⠂¬  his arms looked like â€Å"toothpicks,† and his hair looked â€Å"ugly and weird.† J was very distraught with his body image and did not feel as if he could belong with other based on the difference of appearance. He is but one of the many teenagers who do not feel as if they fit in with the rest of the people of their age because their image is not often advertised with the word beauty. Body image can also cause teenagers to develop eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. Teenagers would try to adjust their appearance and not only psychologically but physically reject their bodies to comply with societies standards. According to Berk (2008), bulimia nervosa is â€Å"an eating disorder in which young people engage in strict dieting and excessive exercise accompanied by binge eating, often followed by deliberate vomiting and purging with laxatives.† Berk also explains that anorexia nervosa â€Å"is a tragic eating disturbance in whic h young people starve themselves because of a compulsive fear of getting fat† (291). Many times teenagers, mostly females, would suffer from bulimia and anorexia nervosa because they want to control how people perceive their images (292). Teenage girls would suffer the most from anorexia and bulimia nervosaShow MoreRelatedAdolescence and Puberty1617 Words   |  7 PagesPuberty: Developmental Stages of Adolescents As stated above, adolescence is a stage in a young persons life where great deals of changes take place. In early adolescence a young person begins puberty. Puberty brings on many changes physically, intellectually, and emotionally. 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