How the Way We Look Affects the Way We Feel

Think about the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror. Did you like what you saw? Did you notice something positive — like, “I’m having a great hair day”?

Or did you immediately zero in on the things you don’t like? “Look at those bags under my eyes! And oh, I gained MORE weight!”

When we don’t like how we look, or are hypercritical about our appearance, it can really do a number on our mental health. It’s not just a matter of vanity — research has shown that a positive body image is linked to feelings of self-worth and well-being, while a negative body image can lead to anxiety, depression, shame, and unhappiness.

On this episode, we explore the connection between how we look and how we feel. We hear stories about what happened when a young woman’s rhinoplasty didn’t deliver the results she had wanted, why dermatologists and psychologists have joined forces to form a new field, and one woman’s regret over permanently changing an intimate part of her body.

ALSO HEARD:

• When reporter Grant Hill realized that he was spending a lot of time in front of the mirror, scrutinizing his appearance, he decided to try something radical: go without looking at himself for a week. In the process, he discovered there’s a new way of looking at yourself through a “True Mirror.”
• Several years ago, writer, educator, and performer Caroline Rothstein began questioning how one of her regular grooming routines — waxing her “hair down there” — fit with her feminist principles. She decided to stop waxing, and embrace her natural look. But there was just one problem — the hair wasn’t coming back the way she imagined. Nichole Currie tells this story of how an intimate detail became much bigger in the eye of the beholder.