“I could write a book about self-loathing when it comes to my body image. Like pure self-loathing, the ugliness of feeling ugly. This message does not come from a teenager in a crisis of self-esteem, but from a superstar and a sex symbol for all (and all) of his fans. This is the British singer Robbie Williams, the same one who exposes his tattooed torso at a larigot to the delight of his groupies.
A dream body for many people which does not prevent him from describing in this instagram post a “body dysmorphia” or dysmorphophobia which makes him suffer psychologically. What is this mental pathology? How is it triggered? Who can suffer from it? 20 minutes asked these questions to Michaël Stora, psychologist, psychoanalyst and founder of the Observatory of digital worlds in the human sciences.
What is dysmorphophobia?
Body dysmorphia, which can also be called body dysmorphia or body dysmorphia, “is a mental health condition in which a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance. These flaws often go unnoticed by others. explains the NHS, UK Department of Health. It is one of the phobias, which, in general, “are considered from the psychopathological point of view on the side of neuroses, often not serious”, develops Michaël Stora. But behind certain phobias, there may be “a narcissistic fragility” which affects “heavier or even psychiatric pathologies”, he nuances. A person with this pathology will therefore tend to focus on a part of his body that becomes responsible for his anxiety, even his depression. It can even lead to suicidal tendencies.
Dysmorphophobia can also be, according to the psychologist, of a societal nature. Michaël Stora then compares it to what he calls “societal anorexia” which, according to him, “affects young girls who are not affected by anorexia nervosa but have the symptoms”. By dint of seeing an ideal of beauty transmitted on social networks, in particular Instagram, the social network of image and perfection, a form of “proximity” with the personalities that we follow develops and thus the illusion of reachable beauty. And it goes even further, hence the troubles caused. “With social networks, the image is no longer just a status of appearance but existential, if the moment is not posted, it does not exist”, warns Michaël Stora, also author of Social (a) networks: discover the dark side of algorithms (Larousse).
How does it develop?
As with many psychiatric pathologies, childhood, and the relationship with parents, is one of the factors in the development of dysmorphophobia, according to Michaël Stora. “Narcissistic pathologies are linked to the question of an ideal, the first to idealize us are our parents, they are our first mirrors. They can overidealize their child, as an image and not as he really is, which risks creating a “false self”, a notion labeled by the British psychoanalyst Donald Woods Winnicott. The “false self” refers to the self determined by the environment, and in particular the figure of the mother. “It’s the idea that idealization takes precedence over the real personality of the child”, summarizes Michaël Stora.
A phenomenon that has increased with mobile phones equipped with cameras and, again, social networks. Parents increasingly take their child’s picture, share their image on social networks and for the psychologist “put a distance with the child, he becomes an image of what they project onto him”. It is then during adolescence that everything is likely to resurface “in a powerful way”. Because adolescence is a period when the self-image changes and becomes a very important issue in everyday life.
Who may be affected?
Dysmorphophobia does not discriminate. Everyone can be affected, girls and boys. Moreover, we see more and more young men squatting the weight rooms. If it mainly concerns young people, dysmorphophobia can also be triggered in adulthood, but we then speak more of a societal dysmorphophobia. People in their thirties and forties can also be confronted with the plastic ideals of social networks.
And when you’re a celebrity like Robbie Williams, or Megan Fox who also admitted to suffering from body dysmorphia, the pressure is all the greater. Being an ideal of beauty, an actor, a singer “already implies this narcissistic fragility”, emphasizes Michaël Stora. These celebrities are often stuck in this image they are given. As a result, they are not immune to being affected by this pathology, which is “source of a lot of sadness and hidden depression”, notes the psychologist. A dismay that is felt in the testimony of the British singer: “The struggle is real, the sadness shocking. I’ve had it all my life and it will never go away. »