“I realized that I had exaggerated in my mouth when I saw myself in a video. I spoke and my mouth barely moved”, says saleswoman Mariana Soares. “I know I was influenced by Instagram filters and famous people I saw on the internet. But in real life it doesn’t stay the same, right?”
She says that, since she didn’t like what she saw on the recording, she decided to wait for the excess of hyaluronic acid –a product used to give volume to the lips– to be reabsorbed by the body. “I don’t think I’ll ever do lip filling again, but I’ll take it a little easier the next few times,” he says.
Psychiatrist Adilon Harley Machado explains that social networks reinforce an aesthetic pattern to be followed that is associated with success. “There is a pressure that makes people compare themselves to each other. It is natural for human beings to want for themselves what they are socially will be well regarded”, he observes.
“In this context, people find a false comfort, to the point of not recognizing themselves in their imperfections, which are only imperfections in the eyes of these standards, and begin to think that those characteristics would be important to feel more beautiful and desired.”
In addition to the dissatisfaction and anxiety that an eternal search for perfection causes, the psychiatrist emphasizes that the exaggeration of aesthetic procedures can be a sign of body dysmorphic disorder, also called dysmorphophobia.
The disorder is characterized by the excessive preoccupation a person may develop about their appearance. “The image she sees represented in the mirror is always something that causes great discomfort”, he says.
Dermatologist Luis Fernando Tovo says that dysmorphophobia cases are evident in the office when a patient is never satisfied with the results of cosmetic procedures.
“In lip filling, for example, the person achieves an ideal that is harmonious for him, but even so he wants more. The professional needs to have a good critical sense not to join the patient’s wave”, he warns.
Tovo reveals that the number of cosmetic procedures increased dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in male patients. “They started to notice more on their own face from being in virtual meetings so much.”
However, reminds the dermatologist, wanting to improve some aspect that bothers you is not a negative thing.
“Today there are techniques that are restoration and not just rejuvenation. I don’t like the term rejuvenation. Currently, life expectancy is very high, so just as we take care of our health internally, avoiding the consumption of harmful foods and habits such as smoking, it is also interesting to take care outside”, he says.
Plastic surgeon Luiz Carlos Ishida, coordinator of the rhinoplasty and rhinology group of the plastic surgery discipline at FMUSP (Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo), highlights another side of the photos taken with cell phones, which is the distortion they cause.
“When taking a selfie, the camera is very close to the face and this enlarges the nose. This change has already led many people to seek plastic surgery, often unnecessarily”, he says.
Ishida emphasizes that it is important for the plastic surgeon to know how to observe during the consultation if the patient’s expectations are consistent with the result that the procedure can offer in a safe and healthy way.
“A person with dysmorphophobia will continue to see defects even after successful surgery. I’ve seen a patient say that the post-surgery photos, which showed her beautiful nose, were wrong, that what she was seeing was right”, she says.
A common behavior of these patients is to try to convince other people, besides the doctor, that that defect exists.
“I’ve seen people who know how to use Photoshop and came to the consultation with a simulation they made with their own nose. Then, in some cases, we have to explain that it is not possible to obtain that result with surgery”, reports Ishida. “This is still medicine.”
Psychiatrist Adilon Harley Machado says that dysmorphophobia can be part of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD). “It is possible that the patient is developing an OCD that is associated with appearance and, to feel more relieved, begins to undergo cosmetic procedures.”
The basis of treatment, says Machado, is psychotherapy. “The periodic sessions will help the patient to better deal with their anxieties. But sometimes, depending on the degree of dysfunction that the person is facing, it is necessary to undergo psychiatric drug treatment”, he says.
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