Whoops! Wrong patient!
I’ve known a lot of people with what I’d describe as having body image issues. Not just women, either. One of the first people who asked me for medical advice was someone who wanted a bigger dick – his was average. I suggested he lose 10kg and to then reconsider if that’s what he really wanted.
It’s one of the reasons why I generally disapprove of non-corrective operations such as leg lengthening, genital reconstruction, or gastric band surgery.
“If I just do this/have this one thing, then people will love me.” is instead “If I do this one thing that won’t ultimately change who I am, I won’t have to love myself for who I am.”
The problem people with body image issues have is not that they do not have a 6 pack, or they do not have a vagina, it’s that they hate themselves; and having an operation is psychologically less difficult than having to actually change. This is why Ozempic is so popular. It takes away the psychological cost, and has made it evident that the main barrier to weight management is self-management. Imagine if you actually learned how to manage your desires and compulsions and how that could be applied to so many other parts of your life.
No? Okay, have a pill I suppose, it won’t solve what’s really wrong with you.
The point so many seem to miss is identifying when they started having feelings of resentment towards themselves and their body. Which did you feel first, did you feel alienated, or rejected? What was it that drove you to hate your body instead of yourself? Maybe you have good reasons, but maybe you are taking out your mind on your body, or vice versa.
We are all convinced on some level that we are special, but we aren’t. When you pop vyvanse, you aren’t fixing your attention issues. If it was fixed, things would remain working after the drug wore off, nobody pretends a diabetic is all better because we gave them insulin. The pathologisation of what would be previously considered borderline normal psychology and access to medicine has rendered everyone overdiagnosed and underdisciplined. Everyone wants a shortcut, and worse, everyone thinks they deserve it, even when they see everyone else is getting one. When everyone’s super, no one is.
Damn, you’re neurodivergent? Just like the last 50 people I met?!
Three options: I should go gambling, I attract these types of people (not unlikely), or the term is meaningless.