A new British survey found that reality TV fuels body anxiety among young adults, which can lead to suicidal thoughts.
The YouGov survey of adults in the U.K. found that 24% of those aged 18 to 24 said reality TV makes them worry about their body image. It also revealed that 23% had experienced suicidal thoughts because of concerns about their body image, and 15% had self-harmed or hurt themselves because of body issues.
Dr. Antonis Kousoulis of the Mental Health Foundation told The Guardian about Love Island, a popular British reality TV show, that it projects body images that are, quote, “not diverse, [are] largely unrealistic and [are] presented as aspirational.”
Richard Cowles of British channel ITV, which airs Love Island, told The Guardian last year about the show: “Clearly the contestants are extremely attractive — they have to be for the format to work — but we’re not saying the whole world looks like that. It is an aspirational show. We’re not trying to pretend this is reality. This is a sort of hyperreal world. Normal life doesn’t always look like this, nor should it.”
