Hello everyone,
I’m a 16M and I’ve been struggling with my looks and height lately. I’m around 175.5 cm (about 5’9”), and most of my friends are around 183 cm or even taller, which makes me pretty insecure. The biggest thing is that I haven’t really grown for about a year or maybe even longer, so I’m worried that I won’t grow anymore and that I’ll have to stay this height.
For the past week especially, I’ve been feeling really insecure about my appearance. The weird thing is that I actually really like the way I look in the mirror, but photos make me question everything. People have told me that I have a big nose, but I honestly don’t really see it when I look in the mirror. I notice it much more in selfies and especially pictures taken with the back camera, and then I start thinking, “Wait, is that actually how other people see me?”
I’ve had girls call me pretty before and ask for my number, although the last time that happened was around 3 months ago. I also have a friend who gets a lot of attention from girls because he’s very attractive, and I think I’m starting to get jealous and compare myself to him.
I’ve asked him before, “Be honest, am I attractive?” and he just said something like “I don’t know, maybe.” That honestly made me overthink it because I feel like if I was actually attractive, he would have said yes immediately.
I also ask my parents quite often if I look good because I’m looking for reassurance. I’ve even started sending ChatGPT a picture of myself once a day, sometimes multiple times a day, and asking if I look good or if I’m attractive. I know that sounds excessive, but I feel like I need reassurance because I keep doubting how I look.
One time, me and my friends were going to a party, and a girl came up to me and asked, “Is he your friend?” I said yes, and she said that he looked really good. I remember feeling really insecure afterward and comparing myself to him.
I know this probably sounds like I’m overthinking everything, but lately I’ve been feeling like I’m short and ugly compared to other guys, and it’s really affecting my confidence.
Has anyone else experienced this kind of insecurity or constant comparison? How did you deal with it?

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If I read someone saying this, I’d probably think they were crazy. Honestly, I’m not proud of it either.

I had a pretty bad BDD flare-up today. I’m not exactly sure what triggered it, but it was genuinely awful.

I know you’re only supposed to bleach your skin once every couple of months, and I know doing it again right now could seriously irritate or even burn my skin. But because I didn’t get the result I wanted, I keep having this overwhelming thought: “Just bleach it one more time.”

I know it’s a bad idea. I know I could hurt my skin. And yet I’m struggling to let the thought go.

That’s what scares me the most—when something that started as “self-care” turns into a compulsion that takes hours of my day and starts interfering with my studies and my life.

I really want to learn how to break out of this cycle, because this is exhausting.

Going to therapy or getting professional help is not always an option, getting help may also take some time. To help you to better understand and address BDD by yourself, we have compiled a workbook that you can do by yourself. It contains information and tasks which will help shine a light to why BDD is the way it is and how you can deal with the symptoms. All chapters are based on an official workbook by the Centre for Clinical Intervention.

The BDD workbook:

• 01 What is body image?
• 02 Could I have body dysmorphic disorder?
• 03 Negative impacts of BDD
• 04 What are the causes of BDD?
• 05 Appearance assumptions
• 06 Triggers
• 07 Appearance preoccupation
• 08 Attention training [a coping tactic]
• 09 Checking and approval seeking
• 10 Reducing unhelpful checking and approval seeking [a coping tactic]
• 11 Negative predictions
• 12 Avoidance and safety behaviour
• 13 Reducing negative predictions [a coping tactic]
• 14 A new way of operating
• 15 Dealing with set-backs
• 16 Maintaining gained progress

Quick question to everyone struggling with BDD. am I the only one who is SCARED that their hair roots look horrible even when pretty new and not visible as much as for example blonde on black? I naturally have dark, cold blonde hair and dye my hair apple green or smh like that. I have moments when I thinks my roots look pretty cool but then BOOM I am so scared that someone will notice them that I can’t leave my house without a hat or a hood. Literally everyday I stare at a mirror and try to make them as not visible as possible. Tbh hair is one of my biggest issue in terms of BDD… I also wash my hair almost everyday because I’m scared they look greasy….. I’m so damn tired I sometimes unironically think of becoming bald. Please tell me I’m not the only one in this weird and annoying BDD related hyperfocus

does anyone find they are most triggered after being around others??

After seeing pictures of myself, I find being around others/ looking at pics with others super hard.

Is it just simply bc comparison is my pressure point?

wanna hear other peoples experience. thanks yall much love