Romantic relationships can change your appearance—for better or for worse. One woman says she looked completely different during a toxic relationship, drawing attention to how stress can impact appearance.
In a video with over 6.1 million views, TikToker Eden (@edenlorenia) shares two pictures of herself. In the first picture, Eden stands confidently, smiling in a coordinated outfit. In the second image, her face is red and puffy, and her hair is thinned at the crown. She is wearing a brown T-shirt.
On-screen text reads, “When I say I want a relationship, but this is how the last one had me looking.”
The caption continues, “Guys, it’s okay I look like the first picture now. And yes I got rid of that trash driver man.”
How do toxic relationships change your appearance?
Commenters say that Eden could have experienced “cortisol face,” a phenomenon popularized on TikTok that suggests the stress hormone could cause puffiness, bloating, and weight gain.
Many medical experts push back on using the term “cortisol face,” as it is not a recognized diagnosis. According to the Cleveland Clinic, many signs of “cortisol face” are traced back to other conditions like Cushing’s syndrome and hypothyroidism instead.
However, research shows that prolonged stress can impact your appearance.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, stress may trigger acne, psoriasis, and eczema flare-ups, speed up the skin’s aging process, and cause hair loss. The mental strain of stress from a toxic relationship can also impact appearance by altering hygiene and eating habits.
Has this happened to other women in toxic relationships?
Eden’s video is part of a larger trend of women posting before-and-after images of how toxic relationships impacted their appearance. Many use the TikTok sound “Psycho—A Suite for Strings: The Knife” by Esa-Pekka Salonen, which is featured in over 27,800 videos.
Many of the images of women during toxic relationships share similar characteristics: swollen or puffy faces, redness and rashes, significant weight changes, and hair loss.
In the comments section, viewers discussed these shocking changes.
“Bro what are these men doing to yall? I’ve seen soldiers come back from battle zones with less shell shock,” one wrote.
“I think you’re entitled to financial compensation,” another said.
“Not him giving you an ALLERGIC REACTION,” a third wrote.
Others said they’ve also experienced appearance changes in a toxic relationship.
“I developed acne, cortisol face, anxiety, brain fog, fatigue while with my ex narc. Healing looks much better on me,” a viewer shared.
“Cortisol face, low self-esteem, blaming myself, acne, gained weight, fatigue, all my piercings closed up, I lost myself,” another wrote.
“I went from looking 37 to 57. skin was yuck, hair like straw. low iron. gained so much weight. yet he lost weight his skin was ran and glowing. vampires!” a third added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Eden for further comment.
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The post ‘Bro what are these men doing to y’all?’: Woman gets into toxic relationship with man. Then she sees how her face changes appeared first on The Daily Dot.