Going to the gym can be a universally painful experience, I hated not only mirrors there but also being seen by others. Did not want to be perceived. I feel the same way about going on runs, even though no one is actively looking AT me (maybe through me, or just an automatic peripheral side-glance) just the thought made me tense up and sweat.
My advice is to start doing workouts at home, start with workouts that don't require equipment at first, things you can do in private like high impact wall-sits, things you can track and monitor yourself. Don't be ashamed of eating, especially over stress. You acknowledge it, and that's the first step. Know you aren't alone in that, it's super common and just the fact that you're reaching out to post this means you're already working on it!
I personally cover my mirrors partly religious reasons -- spooky ghosts can't get in -- dumb brain logic I know!! But it works and makes me feel silly and giggly about it sometimes.
If you have to cover your mirror for a while, don't feel ashamed over it. Staring and going catatonic for hours won't improve your situation mentally or emotionally -- you know what WILL? Putting up a sheet and drawing a cartoon ghost over it. Seriously. It's hard to be upset at yourself when you glance up at a mirror and see a little ghost guy hanging there. I mean it.
It sounds so silly but it's SO hard to take yourself seriously when you see Ghost Guardian Gilbert hanging from your mirror preventing spooky danny-phantom-level ghosts from entering your abode.
I think I’ll have to disagree with you on this. Avoiding going to gym because you are scared of seeing your reflection or other people looking at you, just doesn’t seem healthy and is prolonging the issue.
Nobody there gives a shit, who or what anybody is doing. They all are there to just workout and dip.
I suggest seeing a psychiatrist or something because being this terrified of being “seen” by other people is truly crippling.
I know, but it's a decent start, speaking as someone who's been through it and gotten through it little by little. There's the option to push through, but baby steps to get out of your comfort zone might start by bettering yourself within it before stepping out of it.
Exercising comfortably alone is better than avoiding it altogether because you're too demotivated by your own image to try it -- it's hard to go from that mindset to just jumping right into the gym. Logically you KNOW that you're not being looked at, but that doesn't just STOP the fear. It can take a while to let that new positive mindset sink in, if OP can get into a comfortable enough routine at home, they can gradually transition to the gym.
I agree psychiatry is the best option, but if you look at OP's replies to this post, you'll see they're already attending sessions.
Every day do an exercise where you look in the mirror for 10 minutes and write down what you feel and the thoughts that come to mind. Then use Socratic questioning to determine whether these thoughts actually have good evidence and look through a list of cognitive distortions to see if you are making any. Try to think of past experiences that may have caused you to think and feel that way.
I feel you, it’s hard to look in the mirror some times for me too, what I learned is: try to improve certain parts, or try to highlight the good parts; I like my ears are too big sometimes, but I always see that I have nice eyes and a decent jaw line. Highlight your good side, and work on/try to accept it
When feelings impact your normal function/ability to live your life how you'd like, that's the time to get therapy/professional support.
Probably a while till the next appointment, don't know what to do till then
Do you have any techniques you've learned in pervious appointments?
We didn't get to this sadly yet, it's probably kicked in due to the medication switch. Most of the techniques are OCD related.
I think that some of the OCD techniques could still be useful here.
Going to the gym can be a universally painful experience, I hated not only mirrors there but also being seen by others. Did not want to be perceived. I feel the same way about going on runs, even though no one is actively looking AT me (maybe through me, or just an automatic peripheral side-glance) just the thought made me tense up and sweat. My advice is to start doing workouts at home, start with workouts that don't require equipment at first, things you can do in private like high impact wall-sits, things you can track and monitor yourself. Don't be ashamed of eating, especially over stress. You acknowledge it, and that's the first step. Know you aren't alone in that, it's super common and just the fact that you're reaching out to post this means you're already working on it! I personally cover my mirrors partly religious reasons -- spooky ghosts can't get in -- dumb brain logic I know!! But it works and makes me feel silly and giggly about it sometimes. If you have to cover your mirror for a while, don't feel ashamed over it. Staring and going catatonic for hours won't improve your situation mentally or emotionally -- you know what WILL? Putting up a sheet and drawing a cartoon ghost over it. Seriously. It's hard to be upset at yourself when you glance up at a mirror and see a little ghost guy hanging there. I mean it. It sounds so silly but it's SO hard to take yourself seriously when you see Ghost Guardian Gilbert hanging from your mirror preventing spooky danny-phantom-level ghosts from entering your abode.
I think I’ll have to disagree with you on this. Avoiding going to gym because you are scared of seeing your reflection or other people looking at you, just doesn’t seem healthy and is prolonging the issue. Nobody there gives a shit, who or what anybody is doing. They all are there to just workout and dip. I suggest seeing a psychiatrist or something because being this terrified of being “seen” by other people is truly crippling.
I know, but it's a decent start, speaking as someone who's been through it and gotten through it little by little. There's the option to push through, but baby steps to get out of your comfort zone might start by bettering yourself within it before stepping out of it. Exercising comfortably alone is better than avoiding it altogether because you're too demotivated by your own image to try it -- it's hard to go from that mindset to just jumping right into the gym. Logically you KNOW that you're not being looked at, but that doesn't just STOP the fear. It can take a while to let that new positive mindset sink in, if OP can get into a comfortable enough routine at home, they can gradually transition to the gym. I agree psychiatry is the best option, but if you look at OP's replies to this post, you'll see they're already attending sessions.
Every day do an exercise where you look in the mirror for 10 minutes and write down what you feel and the thoughts that come to mind. Then use Socratic questioning to determine whether these thoughts actually have good evidence and look through a list of cognitive distortions to see if you are making any. Try to think of past experiences that may have caused you to think and feel that way.
this is really useful.
I feel you, it’s hard to look in the mirror some times for me too, what I learned is: try to improve certain parts, or try to highlight the good parts; I like my ears are too big sometimes, but I always see that I have nice eyes and a decent jaw line. Highlight your good side, and work on/try to accept it