A Miss Cheshire beauty pageant contestant who tried to take her own life as a teenager because of nasty comments and pressure to look 'perfect' has spoken about her courageous battle.
Lauren Ashworth was only 13 when she started comparing herself to picture perfect celebrities online and became depressed and anxious about her own looks.
The 21-year-old says jibes from kids at school about her 'skinny arms' and 'small boobs' left her feeling so low she tried to take her own life.
Lauren told the Liverpool Echo : "I was as young as 13 and definitely influenced by the internet. I was on it more, a lot of young kids are doing that now.
"You see people on Instagram and Facebook and Twitter, sometimes they've had surgery but at that age you think 'why am I not like that?'.
"Growing up I would see girls who had assets I didn't have and would think I wasn't good enough. I constantly compared myself to other people."
She added: "In school sometimes people would point out certain things about you, I had some of that.
"A lot thought how skinny my arms were and I wasn't as curvy and my boobs were not big. Always pointed out and boys would point out things like that , I thought I wasn't as womanly as I should be."
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Insecurity bubbled under the surface for Lauren and she started suffering from panic attacks and taking weight loss tips from anorexia blogs online.
Lauren, from Wirral, added: "People would post the regime they had and I'd try to copy them."
The regimes included extreme weight loss tips to trick the body into losing weight quickly.
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But contrasting beauty ideals had Lauren attempting to build 'womanly curves' while also keeping weight off in other areas.
After nearly six years of anxiety, panic attacks and trying fad weight loss tips Lauren says she has now accepted who she is and wants to inspire other young girls to do the same.
She said: "I was really depressed for a couple of years and had a couple attempts at suicide. It was years ago and I've got over it now, definitely things can get to that point.
"That's why people need to spread the word and be more body positive and say body image doesn't matter. I always see the best in people."
Adding: "I wanted surgery from a young age but it's costly and I think looking at myself now I think 'why did I think that'. I've learnt to be happy. Fair enough if people want that but you don't always need it to feel better."
To combat her anxiety, Lauren started forcing herself to take part in different events and is competing in Miss Cheshire.
She said: "I never thought I could be part of Miss Cheshire or walk a catwalk, but I always wanted to. They judge you on the type of person you are not how you look."
"I want to be a good role model for young people, as a teenager I always thought I'd never really get anywhere.
"I didn't do the best in school and didn't feel good looking. But if you put yourself forward then you can, I'm doing my biggest dream."
Miss Cheshire steps away from traditional beauty pageant ideals and focuses on empowering young women to feel confident and special.
As part of the competition contestants must participate in helping their local community and all the finalists are fundraising for Variety, the Children's Charity.
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