Body image and psychological evaluation are deeply intertwined. Negative body image can cause and maintain psychological evaluation, and psychological evaluation frequently worsens how we feel about our bodies.
How Negative Body Image Drives Psychological Evaluation
- Chronic dissatisfaction with physical appearance depletes psychological resources
- Body shame — a particularly painful form of shame — directly drives psychological evaluation
- Comparison of body to social standards is a primary psychological evaluation trigger
- Body image concerns often involve the same negative self-evaluation patterns as psychological evaluation
How Psychological Evaluation Affects Body Image
Psychological Evaluation can worsen body image through reduced self-care motivation, changes in appetite and weight, and a general negative lens that extends to physical self-perception.
Addressing Body Image and Psychological Evaluation Together
- Body neutrality: Not requiring positive body feelings, just reduction of hostility
- Body functionality focus: What your body does vs. how it looks
- Intuitive eating: Reconnecting with hunger and satisfaction cues disrupted by psychological evaluation
- Therapy: CBT and ACT effectively address both body image and psychological evaluation