But first let me take a selfie!

So today I have done my tea & talk group with wonderful students at Stoke on Trent College. Today the topic came up about selfies’, what was thought about them and how they made us feel.

So today, I wanted to talk a little bit more around this topic and how ‘taking the perfect picture’ can impact upon our mental health.

How long does snapping a selfie take you? Well honestly, the one in my post took five attempts!

Even when we’ve warmed up the model within us, final snaps are still missing a little something - time for some filters and editing, until it is social media ready!

Our self-worth can be highly dependent and effected upon what feedback we receive from our ‘selfies’. Awaiting to see how many likes, hearts, or positive comments we can get, to make us feel that bit better about ourselves. Some photos we post may receive negative attention, or even no attention at all. As a result, can lead to a plummet in our self-esteem, creating feelings of being unattractive or unloved - if not receiving the response we had hoped for.

So taking the perfect selfie seems like the best idea! It is so easy to digitally modify ourselves, without needing any ‘tech knowledge’. Thanks to available apps, we see daily beautifully digitally modified images circulating 24/7, and manipulating our own images has become the norm.

The most popular filters are able to make our faces seem much slimmer, give us higher cheekbones, even out our skin tone and even change the colour of our skin. Results that no amount of healthy eating, or working out would be able to achieve. This in turn can create struggles with a person’s body image and self-esteem.

If you find that comparing yourself to all the insta-perfection is negatively affecting your mental health, taking a break from social media may help. Ask yourself, are those you follow making you feel good or bad about yourself? Maybe, before your next post, ask yourself what you are wanting to achieve?

It’s hard enough to compare ourselves to the carefully polished images of celebrities, influencers or friends; the last thing you need is to get stuck comparing yourself to a carefully polished image of your own face and body.

Just remember those who care about you love you for being the real you, NO FILTERS NECESSARY!