Coping With Body Image
- Country singer Shania Twain, 58, is maintaining a positive body image as she embarks on her third Vegas residency by not being afraid to look into the mirror naked, eat healthy, and workout to continue to exude confidence while performing on stage.
- Twain’s message of appreciating your body no matter what it looks like as you age is certainly a powerful one. And it’s a message that can likely resonate with many women who have gone through, or are going through menopause, as well as cancer survivors out there who’ve struggled with body image after treatment.
- “Body image is both the mental picture that you have of your body and the way you feel about your body when you look in a mirror,” Dr. Marianna Strongin, a New York-based licensed clinical psychologist, tells SurvivorNet. “As you allow yourself to spend more time looking at all of you, you will begin having a new relationship with your body.”
- Positive psychology is a different approach to mental well-being that focuses on a person’s strengths rather than illness & standard treatment. This approach can be really helpful for people living with illnesses like cancer, PCOS, or struggles with mental health due to body image issues.
The 58-year-old “Queen of Country Pop,” who previously admitted that menopause, which is described the National Institute on Aging as a normal part of aging which typically begins in women between the ages of 45 and 55, has taught her to get over her insecurities— is continuing to exude confidence and inspire her fans to be comfortable in your own skin.
Read MoreShe explained, “A lot of people as they start aging, and even young people, they don’t want to look at themselves in the mirror naked, and I think that is such a shame.View this post on Instagram
“Every month or day that I may notice another sag or another bit of cellulite, I want to know it’s there. I want to be OK with it instead of thinking, I have to cover it up or not to look. I can’t change it and I don’t plan on changing it superficially.”
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Twain insists she’s an “athlete,” and stressed the importance of breathing, projecting, and pacing “everything.”
She told Hardwick, “I only drink fluids all day until after the show. I drink my food, so I blend my food. Lots of blended spinach and blueberries.”
Twain added, “After the show I am ready to chew. I am vegetarian, so I only eat vegetarian proteins, but I will eat whatever. I don’t eat like a rabbit. I am happy to have pasta, and I will have a glass of champagne after the show. I like to celebrate.”
View this post on Instagram
Twin, who dubbed her Vegas residency a “privilege” to CBSMornings earlier this year, also revealed to Hardwick that although she did undergo a needed surgery on her larynx about six years ago, she will not be getting any surgery to tweak her appearance in the future.
She continued, “A surgery that is not necessary for my wellbeing is removing my cellulite. What is necessary is knowing that it is there and not hating myself for it.
“I have to take myself on the stage without feeling like I have to cover myself up. I want to feel liberated.”
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How Shania Twain’s Positive Outlook On Her Body Can Inspire
Shania Twain’s message of appreciating your body as you age and cope with health issues is incredibly powerful. It’s a message that can likely resonate with many cancer survivors out there who’ve struggled with body image after treatment, or women, like Twain, who have managed symptoms of menopause.
It’s importance to understand that body image problems are not unusual, especially for so many people dealing with health challenges – whether cancer or another type of illness.
You should try to work on how you view your body because it can positively impact your emotional and physical well-being as a whole.
Learn to Accept Yourself A Huge Part of Living With Cancer
“Every day of our lives is really filled with uncertainty” but those facing a cancer diagnosis tend to feel that uncertainty at a more extreme level, Dr. William Breitbart, the chair of the Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, previously told SurviorNet.
Dr. Breitbart also said that learning to embrace that uncertainty is a part of living, not just for those fighting cancer, but for everyone.
“What the task becomes is having the courage to live in the face of uncertainty, realizing that you cannot necessarily control the uncertainty in life, like the suffering that occurs, challenges both good and bad,” Dr. Breitbart says.
“You may not be able to control those but you have control over how you choose to respond.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Marianna Strongin, a New York-based licensed clinical psychologist, also has some helpful advice. She encourages people that spending time in front of the mirror can help with body image.
Although “research has found that when looking in the mirror we are more likely to focus on the parts of our body we are dissatisfied with” which can cause “a negative self-view and lower self-esteem,” it’s important to look at the parts of your body that you love and the parts of your body that you don’t.
Eventually, Dr. Strongin says, doing so can help you create a more accepting relationship with yourself.
“Body image is both the mental picture that you have of your body and the way you feel about your body when you look in a mirror,” she said. “As you allow yourself to spend more time looking at all of you, you will begin having a new relationship with your body.”
RELATED: My Confidence Was Destroyed: Dealing With Body Image During Cancer Treatment
Whether you are living with cancer or some other type of illness, it’s important to know you’re not alone if you’re having a hard time with how you view your body after receiving a diagnosis or going through treatment.
SurvivorNetTV Presents: ‘SN & You Body Image: Embracing Your Body’
Learning About Positive Psychology
Another way to cope with body image and mental health is through positive psychology, an approach to mental well-being that focuses more on a person’s strengths and how they can help themselves rather than just trying to curb individual symptoms and/or diagnose a disorder.
“It is a fundamental sort of different way of thinking about patients, thinking about their experience,” Dr. Samantha Boardman, a New York-based psychiatrist and author, told SurvivorNet. “It’s not just focusing on what’s the matter. It’s also asking them, what matters to you?”
Dr. Boardman noted that positive psychology is a reimagined approach to dealing with mental struggles. “Making people feel less bad is not the same as making them feel good,” she said, referring to how this new approach encourages people to try to find happiness rather than just try to stop sadness.
This approach can be a major benefit to people who are dealing with an illness like cancer because it focuses on finding those great parts of life.
What is Positive Psychology & How Can it Help Cancer Survivors?
“Positive emotions have unique benefits above and beyond managing negative emotions,” Dr. Boardman explained. “Sometimes you can treat a patient and get rid of some of their symptoms, and it’s not necessarily then that you find a flourishing patient you might even get an empty patient. So, really tapping into those resources where do they find positive emotions? What provides a sense of engagement for them? How can you promote positive relationships?”
If you happen to be struggling with body image during a health struggle, it’s important to know you’re not alone if you’re having a hard time with how you view your body after receiving a diagnosis or going through treatment.
Celebrity stylist Ann Caruso, for instance, previously opened up to SurvivorNet about how she was never the same after her 12 breast cancer surgeries.
Celebrity Stylist Ann Caruso on Beauty and Femininity After Cancer
“You’re not the same carefree person that you once were, and it was very hard for me to look at myself every day,” Caruso said. “It was like I was a totally different person and didn’t fit into any of my clothes for so long.”
But as time went on, Caruso said the experience helped her redefine femininity and body image as she knew it.
“Femininity is a state of mind,” Caruso said. “And I think that’s something that we have to remind ourselves.”
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Learning About Menopause
Menopause is described by the National Institute on Aging, as “a point in time 12 months after a woman’s last period.” Additionally, “The years leading up to that point, when women may have changes in their monthly cycles, hot flashes, or other symptoms, are called the menopausal transition or perimenopause.”
The average age women go through the menopausal transition, which usually lasts approximately seven to 14 years, ranges between ages 45 and 55.
“The duration can depend on lifestyle factors such as smoking, age it begins, and race and ethnicity,” the institute explains. “The menopausal transition affects each woman uniquely and in various ways. The body begins to use energy differently, fat cells change, and women may gain weight more easily. You may experience changes in your bone or heart health, your body shape and composition, or your physical function.”
Women dealing with menopause will may notice the following changes in their body:
- Menstruation changes
- Hot Flashes
- Bladder control issues
- Difficulty sleeping
- Vaginal health and sexuality changes
- Mood changes
- Body changes
- Aches and pains
There’s also something called early menopause, which the National Cancer Institute explains as a condition which causes the ovaries to stop working and menstrual periods to stop before a woman turns 40. It’s a transition that can lead to fertility issues and symptoms of menopause.
Additionally, early menopause is split up into two types, primary and secondary. According to the National Cancer Institute, “There are two types of early menopause, primary and secondary. Primary early menopause means that the ovaries do not function normally. This may be because they have been removed by surgery, or it may be caused by some cancer treatments and certain diseases or genetic conditions.
“In secondary early menopause, the ovaries are normal but there is a problem getting hormone signals to them from the brain. This is usually caused by diseases of the pituitary gland or hypothalamus. Some women with early menopause sometimes have menstrual periods and may be able to have children. Also called ovarian failure, ovarian insufficiency, and premature menopause.”
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
If you’re experiencing physical changes during your cancer journey or menopause, here are some questions you can consider asking your doctor:
- I am experiencing certain bodily changes. What exactly is causing them?
- Are there ways to manage or minimize these changes?
- I’m struggling to cope with the changes to my body. Is there someone I can talk to about it?
- Is there a social worker here who can help connect me with a therapist?
- What resources are available to help me find a local support group?
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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