Alex's Answer
I feel so ugly compared to my friends
Your Question
Why do I feel so ugly, but my friends look normal and pretty
Answer
Hi there,
Thank you so much for reaching out to us, you are really brave opening up about how you are feeling at the moment.
You mentioned that you feel ugly and that you think your friends look normal and pretty. Childline would be concerned to hear that you are having feelings like that, and it sounds like you are being a little hard on yourself. It seems like you are feeling very down about this, and we are glad that you contacted us as you do not have to experience this on your own.
You deserve to feel good about yourself and sometimes doing so takes a little work. It can be helpful making a list of all the things you like about yourself; you could even ask your trusted friends and family members what they appreciate about you and add their comments to your list too. Whenever you’re feeling down about yourself, read that list to remember all the wonderful qualities you have that make you you. It’s useful to keep in mind the saying “comparison is the thief of joy”. Although we are all often guilty of comparing ourselves to others, the trick is not to pay too much attention to this comparison. It’s just a way our brain likes to work out how we are doing and it’s not always the truth and it’s not always useful.
If you feel that you have something else triggering these thoughts and feelings, it’s important for you to know that you have a right to talk to a trusted adult and to receive support around how you are feeling. Here at Childline, we believe asking for help is brave.
You also have the option of contacting us at Childline on our 24-hour listening service, you can ring us on 1800 66 66 66. We are always here to listen to you, and we would never judge you. We also have a text service that is open every day at 10.00am until 4.00am, and by texting to 50101 you can have your chat by text. There is also information available around maintaining good mental health and a healthy body image on these websites that you might find useful https://www2.hse.ie/mental-health/ and https://www.bodywhys.ie/
Take care and be kind to yourself. Goodbye for now,
Alex