Social media has found another way to make us feel bad about ourselves. It even has a name:Snapchat Dysmorphia.
With Snapchat Dysmorphia, we’re devastated when we look in the mirror and don’t see the face staring back at us that the Instagram and Snapchat filters gave us. What happened to my Angelina Jolie lips and flawless skin? And what about those cellulite free legs and Kate Hudson abs?
What to do? Some are flocking to plastic surgeons, selfie in hand, to go under the knife in hopes of getting that perfection. Ouch! Of course, that’s the worst-case scenario.
Neuropsych research shows that the more time you spend with any given thought, the more you’re building neural pathways that will make that your permanent way of thinking. Basically, you’re building a rut for yourself that you can easily get stuck in.
TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO STOP THIS NEGATIVE THOUGHT LOOP
Here are some easy ways to do it:
- Move your attention somewhere, anywhere else. AKA “change lanes, brain”
- Get your mind engaged in what you’re really supposed to be doing right now, probably work — and off Instagram and Snapchat
- Take 3 really good long breaths. Feel that dopamine, our feel-good neurotransmitter, wash over you with each exhale. Ahhhhh.
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