"The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel."― Steven Furtick (1)
Over the years, social media platforms have been connecting people around the world; however, lately, it seems to simply be disconnecting us from reality. Social media has evolved from being a platform occasionally used for posting pictures, to posting stories and highlights on Instagram and Facebook on a day-to-day basis. Consequently, social media users have started artificially exaggerating the way they look and the life they lead in order to appear flawless and socially engaged to their viewers. This shift has created a paradox effect by showing an illusion of what their day-to-day lives look like. (2)
In recent years, augmented reality has started playing a huge role in social media. What once began as adding fun filters to pictures has slowly morphed into changing one's physical appearance using apps that allow you to modify and enhance your physical and facial features. Apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and specific face tuning apps enable people to use beauty filters to transform their skin tone, enlarge their eyes and make their lips look fuller, creating an unrealistic standard of what is normal. (3) Posting these highly edited pictures on social media platforms has become the new norm, and has started negatively impacting the mental health and self-esteem of other social media users. Seeing these perfect pictures leads to viewers developing negative feelings about how they look, making them believe that everyone besides them is perfect (4). Almost 60% of social media users have reported that seeing people's ideal lifestyles and bodies online have negatively impacted their mental health. (2)
According to a study conducted in 2018, these highly edited, almost unreal pictures, are triggering Body Dysmorphic Disorders (BDDs), also termed ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’. (5) BDD is a mental health condition that makes individuals feel physically flawed and insecure; when in reality, these flaws typically go unnoticed by others. Being on the obsessive-compulsive spectrum, BDDs interfere with one's social functioning and can result in compulsive behaviour. (5) Symptoms of BDD can include constantly comparing your physical features to others, avoiding looking into mirrors, and "picking" on your skin to make it smoother. Being aware of these symptoms is critical for early diagnosis. (6)
Furthermore, BDD affects all age groups and genders but is particularly common in teenagers who spend hours scrolling through social media. (6) As a result, It is becoming normal for teenagers to feel insecure about the way they look due to the flawless photoshopped pictures of celebrities, family members, and friends they see on a daily basis. (7) Sam Rizk, a famous plastic surgeon, agrees that teenagers and young adults who spend a considerable time on social media apps are "hyper-focused" on how they appear to their Instagram followers. They spend hours on editing apps trying to look flawless but tend to only succeed in distorting their own self-image. (8) This feeling of inadequacy has led many teenagers to consider plastic surgery. According to data collected, 55% of plastic surgeons have had patients wanting to get procedures to look more attractive on social media. (9) Research suggests that patients suffering from BDD that undergo plastic surgery to escape their insecurities often end up intensifying them instead. (10)
There is a thin line that is dividing patients with BDD from others who chose to get plastic surgery. Unlike other patients, patients with BDD are suffering from a condition that drives them towards plastic surgery, making it unethical for plastic surgeons to take advantage of their disorder. Despite the enormous profits that the surgeons can make, they believe that suggesting counseling is a more ethical way of treating early signs of body dysmorphia. (3)
As a generation that spends a considerably large amount of time on social media platforms, it is crucial for us to be aware of the effect that social media can have on our self-image, and to look out for those who might be displaying early signs of BDD. Since we have no control over what others post on social media, the only thing we can do is protect our mental health and of those around us from the constant self-enforced negativity. If we stop believing that everything on social media is reality and start appreciating our unfiltered selves, we can reduce the negative control that social media has on us and our self-esteem. (11)
References
2- Silva,C.(2017).Social Media’s Impact On Self-Esteem.
3- Ramphul,Kamulesh and Stephanie G Mejias.(2018). Is “Snapchat Dysmorphia” a Real Issue.cureus vol.10,3.
4- Jacobson,R.(2020).Social Media and Self-Doubt:How parents can help kids resist the pressure created by artfully curated social media feeds.
5- American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Washington, D.C.: (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
6-NHS.Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).(2017)
7-Rajana,S.,Maymome,M.,Vashi,N.(2018)."Selfies—Living in the Era of Filtered Photographs." JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, 20(6), pp. 443–444
8 Migala,J.(2018).‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’: Is the Stress of Social Media Driving Teens to Plastic Surgery?
10-McLean SA, Paxton SJ, Wertheim EH, Masters J. Photoshopping the selfie: Self photo editing and photo investment are associated with body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls. Int J Eat Disord.( 2015);48(8):1132-1140. doi:10.1002/eat.22449
11-Jan, M., Soomro, S. A., & Ahmad, N. (2017). Impact of Social Media on Self-Esteem. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 13(23), 329. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2017.v13n23p329
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