Professional modeling is a dream career for some, but there is a dark underbelly to professional modeling that many people are unaware of. To the public, modeling appears to be glamorous and exotic, but to professional models, it is blood, sweat and tears. The stress and pressure of performing and maintaining a flawless appearance wears on many professional models, and like in any high stress job, the result is a deterioration of mental health.
A number of professional models develop mental health problems, such as disorders and complexes. The brutal standards of physical perfection in the world of professional modeling leave many with low self image issues that develop into conditions. Depression and anxiety are just a few of the disorders that professional models struggle with. Others battle chronic stress and anger issues. These conditions may require years of counseling to undo.
Eating disorders are another hardship of the professional model lifestyle, and are entirely too common. Professional models have to monitor their diet stringently to control their weight, and some have more difficulty than others. In forcing themselves to take in fewer calories, many develop eating disorders such as anorexia – the inability to eat – and bulimia – the binging and subsequent purging of food, which can both be very dangerous to a person’s physical health.
Addiction is known to run rampant in the modeling world. This is not always a well known fact because addiction is usually associated with excess, and model’s problems gravitate around denying themselves. However, there are substances and activities that assist a person in denying themselves, such as diet pills, cocaine and exercise. These things are known to cause weight loss and be addictive to some people, and models frequently fall victim.
Modeling can have a number of rewards for the right kind of person, but it can be full of hardships and snares for others. Those who are tough, able to resist addictive substances and activities, and are highly self disciplined thrive in the world of professional modeling while those who are overly sensitive, have addictive personalities or lack self discipline tend to fall apart.