SHAME

Shame is basically the fear of being unlovable – It’s the total opposite of accepting our bodies and feeling worthy.

Shame is the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging.

Shame keeps worthiness away by convincing us that self-acceptance will lead to people thinking less of us.

Shame is all about fear.

We are afraid that people won’t like us if they know the truth about who we are or our “imperfections”.

Shame is something we all experience. It is universal and one of the most primitive human emotions that we experience. The only people who don’t experience shame lack the capacity for empathy and human connection.

While it feels that shame hides in our darkest corners, it actually tends to lurk in all of the familiar places… even those that go far beyond the body image concerns that those of us with BDD suffer.

Shame can include family, parenting, money, work, health, addiction, sex, aging and religion.

To feel shame is to be human.

Our struggles with our body image concerns are difficult to own, and if we’ve worked hard to make sure everything looks “just right” on the outside, the stakes are high when it comes to truth-telling.

It’s so easy to just keep quiet.