Honestly, I don't think there's any good solution to BDD. Maybe I'm just a dumbass but the methods I've tried either don't do shit or actively make the problem worse.
Body positivity doesn't do shit. Forcing positivity about anything isn't helpful and when you can't be 100% positive about your body 24/7, it feels like you failed yourself. Worse still is that my body is objectively bad. I don't really love lying to myself all the time. I get the goal is just fake it till you make it but oh my god is it so hard. I literally shower with the lights off because the concept of looking at my own body disgusts me. I don't want to burst into tears every few days because the fact I'm stuck with this for the rest of my life makes me want to vomit. Not to mention, there are just some objectively not good things with my body. I'm not very strong or fast, my eyesights not great, I'm at greater risk for like 13 different diseases, not to mention addictions... I'd change stuff about me even if I thought I was hot shit.
Body neutrality is for depressed people. Sounds mean I know but how is anyone expected to completely disconnect themselves from how others perceive them? I'm not all that extroverted but I consider myself a social person. I like being around people. Most people do. How others perceive me is more important than how I perceive myself and I think that's true of most people. I can think I'm funny and smart and cool but if everyone else thinks otherwise, you can guess what's really right. I like hearing other people's opinions. I love talking to people. I'm not just gonna ignore society at large so I feel better.
"go get therapy!!" Look. I think therapy as an institution is a scam. Individual therapists can be fine and dandy but the industry literally profits off your insecurities/anxiety/depression. Therapists get paid as long as you're insecure not to mention constantly ruminating on your source of insecurity or other ailments only seeks to cause an echo chamber where you leave feeling worse. Also, you're building a connection with someone over an insecurity. You're not ever really going to grow from it. If you become friends with someone over a hobby and grow out of it, either you ditch the friend or you keep doing a hobby you dislike. Same with whatever put you in therapy. Either leave a relationship you've had for presumably years or keep pretending or ruminating on it.
I don't know where I was going with this. I think the only option really is to just not have BDD in the first place which mostly requires a change to society at large and I'm not doing that. I just think it's annoying when someone tries to give me advice on this sort of thing because 9 times out of 10, it's some well meaning but clueless person who's at worse been kinda insecure. No hate no shade but it's not like I'm an idiot. I know I'm in the wrong. I know what I'm doing is unhealthy. It's more so that the solutions plain don't work.
