Why Are Photos So Triggering?

The issue I hear most often from clients (and the issue I also face most myself) when it comes to body image triggers is around photographs.

We may feel okay, but the moment we see a photograph of ourselves, it’s like the curtains come down and we start to spiral.

What’s that about?

Here are some reasons why this happens, and what you can do about it:

It flips you into "observer mode."

We live our lives in first person, experiencing things from the inside out. (Even if you're constantly aware of how you look, there is a difference between what your brain imagines versus visual confirmation.) In a photo, we suddenly see ourselves through the lens of objectification. Beauty culture's value system gets imposed upon us in that moment without our consent, and feels vulnerable.

It confuses our conception of reality.

A photograph can capture many things, but it does not always translate our energy and how we appear in motion. Photos magnify one dimension of an otherwise fluid, dynamic state. We assign meaning to that static image rather than understanding it in the context of the whole. This can feel disorienting because our vision feels concrete and reliable, but misses part of the picture.

We project our personal baggage onto our bodies.

Weight is such a value system in our culture that we learn to translate all of our "negative" traits onto weight. We think that weight is evidence of everything wrong with us (and our culture reinforces this.) This leaves us feeling exposed. In a society that conflates weight with immorality and undesirability, it's easy to believe that people can "see" our weakness through our weight.

We are faced with ourselves.

Many people avoid mirrors and reflections for self-preservation, because they can be triggering. When confronted with a photo, we are forced to look at ourselves.

Visual imagery is an emotional pathway, not a logical one.

Vision is one of our senses. You may know that you look a certain way (this is a mental pathway) but when you see it visually, you are "knowing" it differently. We need our whole brain to interpret reality, and a photo sends us into a primal gear that mostly responds with our "panic" center.

What You Can Do:

• Slowly re-integrate seeing your reflection more often.

• Use mirror affirmations/exercises (as given in The Body Image Workshop)

• Accept what you can and cannot control.

• Generally, body size/shape is largely out of our control without sacrificing mental health (use your experience to confirm).

• Flood your social media feed with images of diverse body sizes.

• Work with a body image coach or Somatic Experiencing Practitioner to address the parts of yourself that feel impossible to accept AND to address the emotional track (instead of just the cognitive one).

• Keep practicing! This is like building a muscle and takes time & repetition.