I’m the type of person who prefers to be under a certain weight, usually around 160 pounds, to feel comfortable in my skin. Since being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, adhering to that standard has been relatively challenging for me because the medications that I take induce weight gain. When I moved to Los Angeles last year, I began adopting a more plant-based diet, eating meat for only a fraction of my meals. Because of this, I’ve shed the roughly 20 pounds I gained in graduate school and am now at my comfortable weight of around 160 to 165.
Nevertheless, I wouldn’t say that my mental health has seen a sharp spike in quality because of this transformation. I feel about the same. I look on Instagram nowadays, and the algorithm’s tendency to recommend models to me with their shirts off and swimsuits on, and I sort of wonder how these individuals are doing mentally. In the pictures, they look quite happy and are enjoying their lives to the fullest, but what’s really going on in their minds?
To add to that, I recently came upon a YouTube video that said that having a friend group is not the healthiest way to be social, despite common knowledge. The premise is that when you limit yourself to a select group of friends, there will ultimately be some people who you do not like or who do not share the same values as you. This is a bit off-topic, going off the title of this post, but in my experience, I think there’s some truth to this statement. Whether it’s your body or social network, it seems that what mainstream media peddles to us is not necessarily the best way to go.
The Ivory Tower 
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