Obsessing over how I look in Facebook pictures

[ImageAnxious]

I'm

[kittikat]

Anxiety can take so much away from us including confidence and self esteem. I am sure your worries about the pictures are just distorted and unwanted anxious thoughts.

I remember hating myself for a long time, I would look in the mirror and the person I saw looking back just was not me, the same went for photos too and I actually still hate having my picture taken, we never see ourselves as others do.

I am sure your worries are just your anxious mind doing it's thing. The pics you worry about I presume are on your FB page, so all your contacts will have already seen them anyway now. And I am also sure that they are not as bad as you imagine.

If you are that anxious about it, just be careful what you post in future and try not to over analyse every picture of yourself. You say you are comfortable with your appearance in real life so I'm sure you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

And hey, we all have those pictures we look at and think eww, is that really me? :doh:

All the best, Kitti :)

[Fishmanpa]

I'll preface it by saying I'm not a fan of Facebook. I believe people spend an inordinate amount of time on there. If it wasn't for the fact that I use it as a marketing tool for my music (I also used it to update friends and family concerning my battle with cancer), I wouldn't be on there. We all did fine before Facebook, MySpace and social networking as well as we did before "smart" phones. Now, I'm rarely on there at all as I'm not performing until the Spring and in recovery.

The solution is to your dilemma is simple. Delete your profile. Then you won't ever have to worry about a picture on there ;)

Thing is.... can you do it? Most people can't or won't ;)

Positive thoughts

[Brunette]

I do think this is a bit of a strange thing to be anxious about to be honest.

I'm sure everyone likes to present the best image of themselves and there's nothing wrong in doing a bit of editing but choosing "good" from "bad" photos only takes a minute in my experience, it isn't something you should be obsessing over.

Like most people I'm pretty sure most of your Facebook friends are also your real world friends - and they know what you really look like. As for all the other millions of users - who cares what they think?

And the're no reason why you have to post photos on Facebook at all. You can always use a generic photo if it makes you feel more comfortable. I only have one and it's my profile picture.

[theharvestmouse]

I'll preface it by saying I'm not a fan of Facebook. I believe people spend an inordinate amount of time on there. If it wasn't for the fact that I use it as a marketing tool for my music (I also used it to update friends and family concerning my battle with cancer), I wouldn't be on there. We all did fine before Facebook, MySpace and social networking as well as we did before "smart" phones. Now, I'm rarely on there at all as I'm not performing until the Spring and in recovery.

The solution is to your dilemma is simple. Delete your profile. Then you won't ever have to worry about a picture on there ;)

Thing is.... can you do it? Most people can't or won't ;)

Positive thoughts

Agreed, I deleted my profile over 4 years ago and I have never once regretted it. In my opinion it's just a complete waste of time, there's so much else I'd rather be doing.

[times71]

Please, do yourself a favour and delete Facebook.

your problem will be solved in a heartbeat.

simple

[Pipkin]

I think some posts are missing the point here. This may seem like a strange thing to be anxious about but which of us can say we don't have peculiar anxieties? I know some of mine are very strange with no apparent root cause.

As for deleting your Facebook profile or not using it, that would be avoidance behaviour which doesn't help in the long run, in fact it makes the problem worse. The important thing is to tackle your anxiety head on through therapy and/or with the help of medication. Other strategies such as a change in lifestyle, more exercise, no caffeine etc. can also help a lot.

My advice: if you haven't already, go and discuss the problem with your GP. There's help out there to enable you to be free to do what you want to do without it causing anxiety, even using Facebook if that's what you choose.

Pip

[Magic]

I do not like Facebook. I can find out about things, and post pictures on to other folk via email. Looks don't matter to me. It's what's inside that matters.:hugs:

[Rennie1989]

I came to the conclusion that we're all human and the odd picture of us looking worse for wear will be uploaded. Everyone has those pictures, even my mother who is like a judge when it comes to how sensible a person she is. Besides, you can try and make people believe you are this kind of person, but everyone has their opinions. One person thinks I'm quiet whilst another thinks I'm miserable and another thinks I'm the kindest person to walk the planet. We can't make people think of us the way we want them to.