Caitlin Boyle was at work one day when she realized she was miserable.
To work out of her rut, Boyle went to the nearest bathroom and wrote a note on the mirror saying, “You are beautiful.”
Boyle’s note has triggered a movement of people posting anonymous messages in public places, encouraging a positive attitude and body image in hopes of brightening a stranger’s day. Boyle has been sent pictures of notes from places as far as Iraq and the South Pole.
The messages are often found in places where negative self-talk or fat-talk occur, such as a bathroom mirror or a changing room.
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves over nothing all the time,” Boyle said,
“We stress to be perfect, which is caused by media influences and the culture we live in.”
Matthew Vess, an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio University, said that media create impractical standards of beauty that may serve as constant reminders of the differences between body image and cultural norms.
“When media constantly bombards us with messages of how to lose weight or look a certain way, those messages may become what we perceive as what is valued by society,” said Anna Shouse, a psychology intern at Campus Care. “And therefore, it’s what we need to strive for to be valued and accepted.”
Boyle said that until consumers try to change the media’s “perfect” image, culture will continue to suffer from it and strive for unrealistic perfection.
According to the brochure ‘Self Confidence’ by OU psychologist Alfred Weiner, those suffering from negative self-talk need to change their mindsets.
Weiner proposes taking risks or trying new activities, and says that although some experiences may be negative, they should be viewed as learning experiences rather than disappointments.
“I advise people to really ponder what their negative self-talk sounds like on a daily basis and identify the most common negative self-talk they engage in and start to question if those thoughts are rational,” Shouse said.
Boyle’s favorite Operation Beautiful story is about a teenage girl from Canada who suffered from severe anorexia. Her doctors feared that her severe condition would eventually end her life.
The girl slipped into the restroom to vomit after lunch, but before doing so found an Operation Beautiful note on the stall that read, “You are good enough the way you are.”
That message caused her to reconsider what she was doing to herself. Now, the girl is perfectly healthy and living a regular life, Boyle said.
Counseling and psychological services for those suffering from negative self-talk, fat-talk or depression are available at Campus Care.
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