How Online Sex Work Helped Me Overcome Body Dysmorphia

By LexiSexy 794 views

Seller Sellers’ Perspective How Online Sex Work Helped Me Overcome Body Dysmorphia

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is explained on the NHS website as follows:

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance. These flaws are often unnoticeable to others.

People of any age can have BDD, but it is most common in teenagers and young adults. It affects both men and women.

I’d quickly like to clarify I am not in any way a medical professional or licenced therapist, just somebody with a lot of experience with this topic in myself and many others around me. This is advice wish somebody had told me sooner and things I wish somebody had told the people around me.

How this affected me:

As a young teenager, around 13 years old, I began feeling the pressure from my peers to look a lot more mature than I was. I was constantly ridiculed for being too thin and having a flat chest, this coming from my close friends and boys in my year. They began to make spiteful comments and call me a “boy pretending to be a girl” or “washboard/ ironing board” this had a detrimental impact on my self-esteem. Looking back, it’s easy to laugh and brush it off … these children had no clue impact of their words. This hurt especially coming from people I thought were my closest friends.

This led me to silly choices like wearing a bra 24/7 because I didn’t want anyone to see me. Wearing baggy clothes and oversexualizing myself for validation from my peers.

In year 11 (16 years old) I reached the body type I am now, size 8, slim with thick thighs and 32C breasts. I still though couldn’t see what others saw; I saw an overweight, flat chested person who didn’t deserve to call themselves a woman. This spired into an eating disorder that I had for 3 years from ages 15 – 18 (I won’t go into it this time but maybe in the future if you are interested).

How I got over it:

To preface I still have bad days every now and then where the untrue thoughts tell me to restrict myself, but I have learned that I am an adult woman who deserves fuel. You don’t need to justify every calorie. The memories you make and the experiences you don’t miss out on by loving yourself are priceless.

That said, the main reason I have started to see my body as beautiful is this lovely community. The love, likes and complements I have received are so touching and always phrased so respectfully. As well as seeing a diverse range of bodies on here and realizing how stunning everyone is. I began to think “if all these people think I’m beautiful maybe I am”. This led me to my self-reflectance and helped me unpack my negative view on my body.

Behavior/ symptoms you should look out for in loved ones:

Body checking (looking in the mirror obsessively, measuring themselves, pinching their skin etc.)
Extreme change in appetite (this can be due to a lot of hormonal, mental and financial reasons so a soft non- confrontational conversation is the best way to go. If you aren’t confident discussing the issue or don’t think it’s the right time to bring it up, a sincere “in here if you ever need to talk” can mean a lot).
Mood swings, fatigue, “snappy” behavior, shutting down, self-isolation, sleeping a lot.
Negative self-talk disguised as jokes also making negative comments about others as a form of deflection.

It can be very harsh to bring this up to somebody who isn’t ready to talk so letting them open up when they are ready and giving them a safe space to tell you is essential.

Conclusion:

Don’t make comments about others if you don’t have anything nice to say. The things you say have deeper consequences than you would imagine.

Uplift others on the dash and DMs, not just buyers but sellers too! It can make someone’s day telling them “I love the set you are wearing” or that “Your hair looks lovely” etc.... doesn’t have to be sexual.

There are always people you can talk to, helpline numbers, cheap/ free therapy, or a lot of inspiring people online. I never got help in the professional way because I was scared and it is a big regret of mine, I hope this inspires even one conversation.

If this is something that affects you just know you are strong, beautiful, and worthy of help.

I hope you all are having a lovely day and if you read this far you are amazing so thank you very much. My DMs are always open if you want to chat, have any questions, or just want to say hi!

Lots of love Lexi x

By LexiSexy

Top 1% on ATW in under two week and top 0.1% in a month... well done boys I’m a 19 yr old, studying Fine Art at University all...

View Profile >

Interested in contributing to our awesome community blog? Why not get in touch with our friendly team?

Comments

Foxxxy_Foxxxy ❤️❤️❤️

NylonPrincess 🥰🥰🥰

DGBunny Great read and girl, you're an absolute stunner 👌xx

Johnson08 ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

LeeTheBoneRanger Well wrote, and respect! Xx

SyamVerma Nice. On lighter note if you have problem with that sexybody just give it to me. ❤️

Yourfavouritegymgirl I love this & relate to this so much!! There really are some true angels on here who go out of their way to tell you how valuable you really are! This kind of work is empowering! Well done 👏🏽

DeaEmma Thank you for this.

Faunalafae Great content! Every body is a good body and the ideas we have as young adults can be so harmful. Thank you for sharing.

Goddessamandacrush Thank you for your bravery in sharing this! Keep being true to yourself!!!

MotherNature8 I completely relate! I started this with zero body confidence, and now I feel like a Queen for the first time in my life. 🥰 Go you, my lovely! Well done for sharing something so raw. I am so happy for you. Inspirational 🤍

PrettyPaigeXo I fucking LOVE this, and I relate sooo much. I’ve learned to value myself more than ever and not settle for less. Online sex work plus therapy has done wonders for my self-esteem 🥰