We have all been in situations where we stand in front of the mirror and see a small mark, an uneven eyebrow, a pore on the face, and it reminds us to fix it or check it one more time, and then we check again, and the cycle continuesA quick look turns into a long inspection, and a long inspection turns into a bad mood that follows us into the day. The more we look for what is wrong, the more we seem to find. And the more we find, the harder it is to stop looking.There has been research on this pattern for years, on people whose worry about their looks has taken over their lives.Let us see what psychology says about this unavoidable habit
What psychology says on why you keep noticing tiny flaws on your face
It feels logical that studying a flaw closely will help you deal with it, but research suggests the opposite. In a 2019 experiment published in Body Image, people were encouraged to focus on a facial feature they disliked, and they reported lower appearance satisfaction, lower perceived attractiveness, and lower self-esteem. The study associates this with cognitive models of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which say that selective self-focused attention through mirror gazing helps keep the problem going. So, the more you inspect, the more reasons you may find to feel unhappy.
The pattern is not limited to people with a disorder
A 2011 study published in Behaviour Research and Therapy found that people with and without BDD also felt more distress and more self-focused attention after being exposed to a mirror. The research explains that when you stare at yourself for too long, your mind gets stuck on your own looks. That makes it difficult for us to notice anything that could change our negative view of ourselves, like a kind comment from a friend. So a long look in the mirror can leave anyone feeling a little worse if we become too critical of ourselves.
How does this become a loop, and why is the pattern harmful
For some people, the loop becomes overwhelming. The International OCD Foundation’s BDD page describes BDD as a severe psychiatric disorder in which people are preoccupied with perceived physical defects.The International OCD Foundation’s page says people with BDD mostly worry about their face and head, and that they “constantly check their appearance in mirrors.”It also says that their eyes become sharp at spotting flaws, but it gets harder to see how small those flaws are compared with the whole face, and how unlikely other people are to notice them.
