One of the more subtle forms of body dysmorphia is people looking in the wrong way. When someone is looking at someone in an unflattering way, the person looking will feel self-conscious. This makes the person looking feel worse and the situation gets worse. Because of this, people with inverted self-perception are often interpersonal victims of their own insecurities. Imagine feeling like you when you can’t even detect when someone is looking at you in an unflattering way. It’s no wonder that people with inverted self-perception feel so insecure. Fortunately, there are ways to correct this that don’t require you to be a social outcast. Let’s take a look at how to correct your inverted self-perception and start seeing yourself with positive eyes.
Do people actually see you inverted?
A person with inverted self-perception will notice how they look in the mirror and be horrified by what they see. They may even feel that they are hideous, ugly, or not good enough. They may also feel like others are looking at them in an unflattering way and this makes them feel even more terrible about themselves.
What Is Inverted Self-Perception?
- Inverted self-perception can be a side effect of low self-esteem.
- Inverted self-perception can be a result of insecurities about your appearance, height, weight, looks, and/or personality.
- Inverted self-perception may be caused by negative past experiences with others.
- Inverted self-perception can be a product of negative thought patterns such as the “shoulds” and “could.”
- Inverted self-perception may be caused by mental illness or even an underlying genetic predisposition.
- Inversion may occur when you have a difficult time expressing your true emotions because you are afraid to appear vulnerable or weak to others or yourself.
Why Is Inverted Self-Perception Common?
The Social World Is a Strange Place
The world is full of people who look at you from an unflattering angle. When you look at the world through inverted lenses, it’s easy to see the faults of others. This is why social interactions are so difficult for people with inverted self-perception.
You Looked Down on Yourself When You Were Young
Children have a tendency to look down on themselves because they don’t understand why they are different than other kids their age. Because of this, children often don’t notice that they are being looked at in a bad way by everyone around them until they hit their adolescent years or adulthood. This is why it’s common for kids to hang out with their friends and feel inferior to them because everyone else in their lives looks down on them differently than their friends do.
Your Parents Didn’t Understand Your Insecurities
When your parents don’t understand the insecurities that you have, they can’t help but make you feel worse about yourself. When this happens, it’s easy for you to feel like you’re not good enough just because everyone else sees what they see. This is why parents need to understand the insecurities that their children have and work on fixing them instead of making them feel even more insecure.
You Try To Hide Your Insecurities
People with inverted self-perception are often afraid of being seen with their insecurities so they try to hide them. When this happens, it’s much easier for people around them to look at them in a negative way because they can’t see what others see. Left unchecked, this can lead to isolation and depression because there’s no one who can help you when you have issues that are difficult to understand or fix.
How to Tell If You Have Inverted Self-Perception
- You see yourself as being a victim.
- You feel bad about yourself all the time.
- You talk about yourself like you’re being talked about by others.
- You’re overly critical of your looks and/or abilities.
- You feel like you can’t do anything right at all times, even when you try hard to do something right.
- You’re more concerned with what others think of you than what you think of yourself.
- You’re less concerned with the things that you can do for yourself than the things that other people can do for you.
- You feel bad about your body and/or your looks all the time, even if you don’t have a weight problem or aren’t anorexic.
So, Do You Think You Have Inverted Self-Perception?
Apply the Socratic Method
If you have inverted self-perception, you probably don’t realize it. So, instead of doing anything drastic, try to ask yourself some questions. Ask yourself what your inversion is and why it exists. Then ask yourself how you can correct this. If you can’t figure out how to correct it then ignore your own body language and concentrate on not noticing that people are looking at you in an unflattering way. This will help your mind focus on something else to help you feel better about yourself.
Don’t Take Things Personally
One of the ways inverted self-perception comes about is people taking things personally that aren’t really personal at all. For example, if someone says something mean about you or makes a rude joke then they are really just making a comment on themselves rather than about you personally. If someone says something mean about me or makes a rude joke I don’t take it personally. If I take it personally, then I’ll be more likely to do something about it. If I don’t take things personally, then I can’t be bothered with trying to correct my inverted self-perception.
Concentrate on Your Flaws
Sometimes, the best way to correct your inverted self-perception is to concentrate on your flaws. For example, if you’re having trouble getting dates because people think you’re not good-looking or not a good person because you have a terrible sense of humor then concentrate on all of your flaws and try to improve them as much as possible. If you work hard at improving all of your flaws, people will start seeing that you’re not a bad person after all and will want to get to know you better for who you really are rather than just what they think about what they see in front of them.
The Fix: Reexamine What’s Important
- Remember the goals you have for yourself.
- Write down what you want to be known for and what you want to accomplish in life.
- Imagine your ideal self-image when you achieve these goals and know that it will happen very soon.
- Imagine how confident and happy you’ll be once these things happen to create a more positive self-image of yourself!
Conclusion
Inverted self-perception is common because we tend to see ourselves in a negative light. When we do, our confidence drops and we feel less in control of our lives. To fix this, it’s important to take a step back and reassess what’s important to us. Once we do, we can start to see ourselves in a better light and feel more in control of our lives.