Snapchat pushing young women to plastic surgery over ‘obsession’ with filtered selfies, scientists find
TAKING selfies using Snapchat filters makes young people more likely to agree with plastic surgery, according to a new survey. The study focused on young women and found that those using Tinder, Snapchat and Snapchat filters had a higher acceptance of going under the knife. The survey was conducted by researchers at John Hopkins University […]
TAKING selfies using Snapchat filters makes young people more likely to agree with plastic surgery, according to a new survey.
The study focused on young women and found that those using Tinder, Snapchat and Snapchat filters had a higher acceptance of going under the knife.
The survey was conducted by researchers at John Hopkins University in the US and included 252 young, white women with an average age of 25 years old.
They concluded that how people feel about cosmetic surgery is affected by social media and photo editing apps and those using Snapchat, Youtube and Tinder were the most likely to consider getting surgically enhanced.
Users of Youtube, WhatsApp and photo editing apps like Photoshop were found to have lower self esteem scores than non users.
The researchers think these results could help aid better conversations between physicians and patients about why they want surgery and the results that they are expecting.
Selfie dysmorphia has been discussed seriously for a few years now but little is known about what causes the condition.
Lucy O’Grady developed selfie dysmorphia and became so hooked on photo retouching apps that her love for plastic surgery got “out of control”.
On ITV’s This Morning, she revealed: “What stared out as taking the odd selfie. I downloaded the apps and started to edit my pictures when I took them.
“I found when I was feeling down I would take some pictures. It was a quick fix to take pictures, edit and upload, thinking I look alright there.
“The trouble is when you look back in the mirror after taking away your flaws you become dissatisfied with what you are seeing.”
Doctors say affected youths are depressed that their natural look does not measure up to the airbrushed version.
Speaking on how filters on apps such as Instagram and Snapchat can affect a person’s perspective on their appearance, Renee Engeln, professor of psychology at Northwestern University, and author of Beauty Sick said: “There’s an issue with losing perspective on what you actually look like, and it’s not something we talk about much.
“It’s not enough [to] have to compare yourself to these perfected images of models, but now you’ve got this daily comparison of your real self to this intentional or unintentional fake self that you present on social media.”
The researchers conducting the recent survey have cautions that the young age of all the study participants is not truly representative of most people who get cosmetic surgery.
However, the results do correlate with trends seen by plastic surgeons and body dysmorphia is actually more common in teenagers and young adults.
We have reached out to Snapchat for comment.
What is selfie dysmorphia?
Here's what you need to know about this type of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)...
- Body dysmorphia is a mental health condition that causes people to excessively worry about flaws in their appearance
- Selfie dysmorphia is a category of this condition but involves people becoming obsessed with how they look in selfies and wanting to look like a filtered version of themselves
- Often the flaws they are focussing on are unnoticable to others
- This condition usually affects teenagers or young adults but can affect anyone of any age
- We don’t know for sure what causes selfie dysmorphia but experts think it could be due to genetics, a chemical imbalance in the brain or a past traumatic experience
- Symptoms of body dysmorphia include worrying a lot about a specific area of your body, picking at skin to make it “smooth”, looking in mirrors a lot or avoiding them altogether and spending a lot of time comparing yourself to others or trying to conceal flaws
- People with selfie dysmorphia are likely to take a lot of filtered selfies or obsess over taking the perfect image of themselves
- Treatments for body dysmorphia include CBT and anti depressant medications
TOP STORIES IN TECH
In other news, Snapchat employees have been accused of spying on users by ‘abusing company tools’.
The company has let Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian have their own shops inside app – selling make-up and clothes.
And, Snapchat bosses have admitted that there is no way that they can enforce their own ban on under-13’s getting on the app.
Do you think Snapchat has a negative impact on mental health? Let us know in the comments…
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.