While dilly dallying across the internet on a late Saturday evening, I accidently stepped foot into the weird part of Youtube yet again. There was a video titled, “Worst Plastic Surgery Obsessions” uploaded by TheRichest, well known for publishing videos sealed with a trigger-happy title. My screen became a slideshow of swollen lips, watermelon breasts, and helium-filled cheeks. Not to mention, the creepy piano music that was playing in the background added to the frightening ambiance of the video. All the cases seemed very gruesome, however, Wildenstein particularly stood out to me. All of a sudden, a lady blessed with a peachy clear complexion, mysterious crystal green eyes, and coral shaded lips appeared unrecognizable. In total, her surgeries …show more content…
It is estimated that 1-2% of our population is affected by this disorder (Body Dysmorphic Disorder). Robert Pattinson, Michael Jackson, and Marilyn Monroe are just a few of many celebs who demonstrated symptoms of this disorder. Wildenstein traded in her Swiss features for a more feline look in order to please her ex-husband. Instead of focusing on what could mold her into a better individual, she decided to undergo multiple surgeries only to achieve a divorce thereafter. Getting a nose job, a lip injection, or botox has now become a norm in our society; celebrities purchase these procedures as if they were fetching for new shoes at the mall. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), Americans spend $12 billion on cosmetic procedures annually. This disorder equally affects men and women, and its victims tend to stay unsatisfied with their looks even after the procedure is done. They nitpick each and every “flaw” they conceive and attempt to change it or hide it as best as they can. Society’s growing obsession with outward appearance should be viewed as a dangerous
People now a days have a problem with the way they appear. For hundreds of years, people, especially females, have been concerned with their weight, the way they look, and the way people perceive them. In the article, Do You Have a Body Image Problem? author Dr. Katharine A. Phillips discusses the concerns with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Dr. Phillips uses her knowledge or ethics to discuss the effects that BDD has on people today. She also uses emotion to show the reader how people are seriously affected by this disorder. In Dr. Phillips article, she discusses how people are emotionally and socially affected by the body dysmorphic disorder, and how society is also affected by it.
Body dysmorphic disorder is a psychological disorder in which a person thinks about their flaws and imperfections for hours a day and take extreme measures in order to “perfect their body” so it can finally appeal to them and be the way it is “suppose to be.” Those who suffer from this disorder cannot control there negative thoughts and it can prevent them from doing everyday activities such as attend school and attend work. They are more prone to miss social events than go out to show off their results and are insecure about how they tried to fix there “imperfections.” And are never satisfied with their results as they undergo more drastic measures to reach their end goal such as plastic surgery, continuous self-tanning, hours of laser surgeries
Body Dysmorphia Disorder (BDD) is an imaginary defects in their appearance. This obsession can become debilitating to the point where one cannot leave the house resulting in the loss in occupation or socially. This disorder is often missed as it has close related to Eating Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and sometimes Social Anxiety. People with BDD often start to develop one of the related mental illnesses/ disorders after a time. Due to the nature of this disorder it is often dismissed until BDD becomes debilitating or develops into other relating disorders and mental illnesses. It is becoming more common for a person with BDD to look into getting plastic surgery continuously, which does not relieve the dysmorphic beliefs and thought patterns. Since gathering information it seems that Cognitive Behavior Therapy is the most common and affect use to treat BDD. This disorder is evident primarily in adolescence and peaks middle age.
A large nose, acne-prone skin, single eyelids, and the list goes on. We all wish we could change that one imperfection we have. However, some of us can accept it and carry on with our lives; not for sufferers of body dysmorphic disorder.
In the article, Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder: An Essential Guide, Katharine defined as a condition whereby individuals feel dissatisfied with their physical appearance (12). This condition is caused by brain differences, genes, and environment. An abnormal brain anatomy might play a huge role in making people susceptible to this health condition. People with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (B.D.D) have been known to inherit the conditions from their parents. Environmental factors such as culture contribute to making a person develop the dysmorphic disorder. These environments usually contain negative social interactions with people who make funny comments about an individual's physical appearance.
Body dysmorphic disorder also shows up in other countries. BDD is a common disorder among individuals seeking aesthetic surgery in Iran. In Brazil, prevalence of the disorder in dermatologic patients was evaluated in a sample of 150 patients in a cosmetic group, 150 in a general dermatology group, and 50 control subjects. Prevalence in the cosmetic group was 14%, compared with 6.7% for the general group, and 2% for the control group.
Every year society is bombarded with thousands of images of beautiful models and celebrities. This “reality” affects the sub-conscientious of many people with low self-esteem and fill the mind of both men and women with insecurities about their bodies. Plastic surgery appears appears as an easy way out to this matter, but actually, plastic surgery can be the tip of the iceberg of a very bad addiction. “It is more of a psychological issue than a physical addiction,” explains Canice E. PhD (Stresing.) The underlying psychological problems name is Body Dysmorphic Disorder, or BDD, a condition that can lead to a plastic surgery addiction (Stresing.) Plastic surgery can make someone feel less confident as they will always be thinking that others
The sense of dissatisfaction and the inability to achieve perfection has caused some individuals to become physiological obsessed with and dependent on cosmetic surgeries. At times obtaining dangerous measurements to achieve the desired perfect physique. Heidi Montag a celebrity who underwent ten cosmetic surgeries in a single day, as a means of achieving the perfect physique, is an example on how cultural ideals pressures individuals to conform to the current beauty norms (Ugrina 2014, p.100). Another example is the Brazilian man called Romario Dos Santos, who injected oil and alcohol into his biceps in order to look big like the other men at the gym. The procedure of injecting synthetic filler was successful in enlarging the biceps, however it almost cost his life as he tried to kill himself after developing depression and health problems (Awford 2015). This is an extreme example, but it does demonstrate how men are also affected by the ideals of the perfect physique. Studies have shown that body dissatisfaction of young men increases when they see images of attractive muscular men (Blond 2008, p. 244). It can be also noted how men are also choosing to undergo cosmetic surgeries to enhance their physical images as well as worrying about aging and optioning to undergo surgery such as face lifts.
Photoshop has altered the way women see the “perfect” body. Too many women and girls wish to look like models that they see on television, magazines, or other media, rather than being happily content with the way they look themselves. The false and altered images often seen affect how females see beauty unrealistically. The more photoshopped images published, the more women and girls become insecure about their own appearances. Women’s insecurities have led to the spending of millions of dollars each year on the unnecessary plastic surgeries to achieve the “perfect” look. Many insecurities have also led to anorexic and bulimic bodies. When describing the look they wish to achieve, it is common for someone to show a plastic surgeon a photo of
In a society so consumed by the ideology of beauty, it makes sense as to why so many women these days undergo cosmetic surgery. The definition of beauty has long been obstructed and changed. In the past, if you look at the woman, you will see they are curvy, during this era being thin meant you were poor where as a beautiful and wealthy woman would be plump because she could afford fine dining. As society has changed, being slender has become the new trend, creating the idea that in order to be truly beautiful one must be thin. The movie stars in Hollywood, although most people realize the beautifying changes that are made to the pictures, this idea of 'beauty ' and 'desire ' still lingers in the mind of whoever comes across it. Our society is bombarded with several different ideologies of beauty but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The beauty standards that have been set should not be what are shaping people around the world and influencing them to go through with plastic surgery. The use of plastic surgery has changed from a medical procedure used to reconstruct the wounded or people with birth defects to reconstructing something people do not like about themselves. Plastic surgery was used during WWI in 1910 and after the war, skin grafting grew. The first training program in the United States was in 1924 thanks to Dr. John Davis. In 1950-1959, plastic surgery was used broadly to repair cleft pallet. It wasn’t until about
What is actually the Body dysmorphic disorder meant for? You may not be familiar with this term. Then let’s have a quick view over it. The term Body dysmorphic disorder refers to a specific type of mental illness which involves belief that the appearance of a specific person is unusually defective in reality, the perceived flaw might be non-existent or if it exists then it is totally negligible, unnoticeable or its significance is highly over exaggerated. This disease is also known as dysmorphic syndrome or body dysmorphia. Sometime the thoughts of negative body images is intrusive for some people who are acutely affected by this disorder though how many times the thought will be come is
There are many beauty standards but weight and body size is slowly becoming the main focus. These standards give a false sense of hope of having the “perfect body.” Instead of letting beauty standards be socially accepted, people should be aware of the harm they cause. Celebrities are role models to various people around the world and they are criticized for their appearance. Many of these celebrities go out and get plastic surgery, Botox injections, and Silicone implants. People that a lot of money and higher status are more likely to be able to live up to these standards. Some women are willing to sacrifice comfort and tolerate the pain to achieve them.
“Be who you are not who the world wants you to be” (Unknown). Society constantly uses the phrase “Be yourself”, however at the same time indicates beauty standards such as body type; tall, skinny, incredibly tiny waist, light skin, the list seems everlasting. Cosmetic surgery, the surgical process of changing one’s physical appearance for cosmetic reasons, has become the solution for thousand of men and women seeking to reach society’s expectations. Nearly sixteen million cosmetic surgeries, most commonly known as plastic surgery, performed in 2016 in the U.S, claiming to help patient with their self-esteem and overall improvement to their future. Changing by the aspects of others and becoming someone else should not have a place in the twenty-first century, the danger, cost and personal impact of the rigorous medical procedures seem unacceptable. Having a low self-esteem and struggling with the different social beliefs of beauty aspects have other solutions rather than plastic surgery.
Studies have shown that, 14.6 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed in 2012. “As cosmetic economic indicators such as auto, retail, and home sales saw gains in 2012 – so too did plastic surgery” (www.plasticsurgery.org). This statistic has proved that across the United States people are being affected with the opinion and views formed based off of Body Image. Throughout the years, the ideas of body image have changed based off of people’s personal desires on what they should look like or on “trend”. Women, children, and even men base their body image on what society believes is ideal. In some years, society might believe that a small waist and a thin frame might be the perfect body image. In others, the curvier frame would be the ideal body image. People have gone down the path of cosmetic surgery in order to meet their needs and desires for what they believe are the “perfect body”. The types of plastic surgery that are being performed correlate directly to the ideas of what body image is supposed to look like.
The desire to look attractive is universal. As the Medical Journal of Australia recorded, “Both men and women are becoming increasingly concerned about their physical appearance and are seeking cosmetic enhancement.” (Castle). It is beyond reproach for someone to pursue a more perfect oneself even though he or she does not suffer any physical disabilities. In the era when there was no cosmetic surgery, people could not change their appearance and most of them could do nothing but live their lives with regrets. Who wouldn’t dream of changing from an ugly duckling into a white swan? For those who do not have confidence in their appearance, they would be influenced by their appearances throughout their lives. When one learns to distinguish between beauty and ugliness in childhood, even though they do not pay attention to their appearances, some naughty kids in the school might use it as an excuse to bully those poor children. After growing up, the lack of confidence in appearance might affect one’s job and even career path in society. People will never be satisfied with their look, as Castle wrote in the article, “More and more people report being unhappy with their appearance. In a 1997 US survey, fifty-six percent of women and forty-three percent of men reported dissatisfaction with their overall appearance. Paralleling this trend, an increasing number of both men and women are resorting to cosmetic procedures” (Castle). Therefore, changing looks could enhance one’s self-confidence and hence increase the chances of success. Everyone deserves to look their best.