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Let us pretend the 'one who hates his own image' is a 'selfie-loather'. If so, a sentence incorporating the term could be

He always said he hated mirrors and I had assumed he was a 'selfie-loather' so I was shocked when I saw him apparently admiring his face in the glass!

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  • Can you elaborate on what you want? 'Self-loathed' works, so what is it you don't like about it?
    – Mitch
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 12:48
  • I think you mean self-loather and not selfie-loather?! Don't you?
    – BiscuitBoy
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 12:51
  • Wikipedia article on Self-hated. Related thread, Is there a single word that describes someone who hates themself? (Antonym of narcissist)
    – Kyle
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 12:52
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    If there were an antonym for the literal definition of narcissist, that would work, but the literal definition has gotten lost.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 13:48
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    @BiscuitBoy I don't think it is a typo. He means 'selfie-loather'. As in someone who hates having pictures taken of themselves.
    – Shane
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 19:56

3 Answers 3

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This body-image death spiral ends at universal self-hatred

"Up to one in five cosmetic surgery patients could suffer from body dysmorphic disorder" – again, the definition is sloppy. Body dysmorphic disorder is the irrational hatred of your body. You could easily argue that everybody having cosmetic surgery for reasons other than physical comfort has body dysmorphic disorder, just because it's irrational to hate yourself so much that you'd ask anyone to slice into you. Or you could argue that hating yourself that much is a maladaptive but understandable response to the pressures of your cultural environment.

Source: The Guardian

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)

But people who have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) think about their real or perceived flaws for hours each day.

They can't control their negative thoughts and don't believe people who tell them that they look fine. Their thoughts may cause severe emotional distress and interfere with their daily functioning. They may miss work or school, avoid social situations and isolate themselves, even from family and friends, because they fear others will notice their flaws.

They may even undergo unnecessary plastic surgeries to correct perceived imperfections, never finding satisfaction with the results.

Source: ADAA (Anxiety and Depression Association of America)

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  • Yes to dysmorphia. I was about to suggest the very word but then saw how well this answer covers it.
    – lauir
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 16:57
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    @human The only problem is there is no context in the question or the question is confusing.
    – user140086
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 17:13
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Eisoptrophobia is the psychological condition of loathing to see one's own image, to see oneself in the mirror. Incidentally, this is distinct from spectrophobia, which is the fear of mirrors.

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    Usually phobias express irrational fears not self-disgust.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 13:32
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    Eisoptrophobia is being scared of one's own reflection en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisoptrophobia
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 13:33
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    And Eisoptrophobia: An abnormal and persistent fear of mirrors. Sufferers experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. Because their fear often is grounded in superstitions, they may worry that breaking a mirror will bring bad luck or that looking into a mirror will put them in contact with a supernatural world inside the glass.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 13:36
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    @Mari-Lou A : Actually, phobia is a bit of a catch-all. Photophobia isn't a fear of light, but an physiological reaction to it. Homophobia isn't the fear of homosexuals but a disliking of homosexuals.
    – Benjamin Harman
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 13:36
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    I can't find a definition that supports yours, here's another : Eisoptrophobia is the fear of mirrors or of seeing oneself in a mirror The origin of the word eisoptro is Greek (meaning mirror) and phobia is Greek (meaning fear). This fear could have developed in the early history, when people used to use ponds and still waters as mirrors (or looking glasses). People believed the images they saw in the water were their souls looking back at them and it frighten them. And (rare) Fear of seeing one’s reflection in a mirror. Wiktionary
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 13:40
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No need to get clinical about this answer. We have a perfectly good agent noun, 'self-hater', formed from 'self-hatred' (= 'self-hate'):

self-hatred n.
Hatred of oneself, esp. of one's actual self when contrasted with one's imagined self.

["self-ˈhatred, n.". OED Online. December 2015. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/175271 (accessed January 08, 2016).]

As the "esp." highlights, the hatred may be of an actual self contrasted with an imagined self. So, 'self-hater' works well in the OP's example:

He always said he hated mirrors and I had assumed he was a self-hater, so I was shocked when I saw him apparently admiring his face in the glass!

It should be stipulated, however, that what the subject of the example saw in the "glass" might've been something considerably stronger and more admirable than himself.

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  • Better than listing unfamiliar words.
    – user140086
    Commented Jan 9, 2016 at 3:53
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    +1 No need to get clinical about this answer. Furthermore there is never such a need. Leveraging clinical conditions, especially on a language asset with no expertise on the subject matter, especially to stereotype people, worst, because such people wouldn't like selfies or something as trivial, is just inappropriate and wrong. Making a diagnosis is also a reserved act. Thank you for an answer on language.
    – user98955
    Commented Jan 9, 2016 at 23:25

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