{"id":60772,"date":"2018-08-08T07:54:46","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T11:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/?p=60772"},"modified":"2018-08-08T07:54:46","modified_gmt":"2018-08-08T11:54:46","slug":"social-media-filtered-pics-can-be-hazardous-to-your-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/2018\/08\/08\/social-media-filtered-pics-can-be-hazardous-to-your-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media\u2013Filtered Pics Can Be Hazardous to Your Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

MED authors warn of growing unhealthy body fixation known as \u201cSnapchat dysmorphia\u201d<\/h4>\n
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School of Medicine\/BMC researchers report that plastic surgeons are seeing a growing number of patient requests for cosmetic surgery to make them resemble their photos in filtered selfies and on apps like Snapchat. Photo by jacoblund\/iStock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you yearn for plastic surgery to make the real you resemble those enhanced photos of yourself in filtered selfies and apps like Snapchat, it\u2019s not a surgeon you need. It\u2019s a therapist.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the message from three School of Medicine authors, who wrote a commentary<\/a>\u00a0last week for JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery <\/em>about the growing health threat from \u201cSnapchat dysmorphia.\u201d That\u2019s a fixation with an imagined or minor flaw in your appearance based on selfies or apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and Facetune.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tech-era twist on body dysmorphic disorder<\/a> (BDD), a long-known impairment that in extreme forms can lead to depression and suicidal thoughts. BDD affects up to 2.4 percent<\/a> of the population.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had patients bring in selfies and say, \u2018I want to look better than my selfies,\u2019\u201d or come in with filtered photos and \u201cwant to change their facial shape, make their teeth brighter, make a blemish go away,\u201d says co-author Neelam Vashi<\/a>, MED assistant professor of dermatology, member of the dermatology department at Boston Medical Center, and director of BU\u2019s Center for Ethnic Skin and its Cosmetic and Laser Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Concern with one\u2019s appearance is normal, she says\u2014to a point. But people with BDD, which mental health professionals locate on the obsessive-compulsive spectrum, fixate on their appearance such that \u201cit will never be good enough,\u201d Vashi says.<\/p>\n

Her co-authors are Mayra Maymone (MED\u201914,\u201916), a research assistant at Vashi\u2019s laboratory, and Susruthi Rajanala (CAS\u201920, MED\u201920).<\/p>\n

In their article, which drew national media notice, they note that photo-editing technology was once the province of models and actors. \u201cNow, it is not just celebrities propagating beauty standards; it is a classmate, a coworker, or a friend,\u201d they write. \u201cThe pervasiveness of these filtered images can take a toll on one\u2019s self-esteem, make one feel inadequate for not looking a certain way in the real world, and may even act as a trigger and lead to body dysmorphic disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n

They write that 55 percent of plastic surgeons report requests from patients to alter their appearance to make them look better in selfies, up from 42 percent three years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously, patients would bring images of celebrities to their consultations to emulate their attractive features,\u201d the article says. \u201cA new phenomenon, dubbed \u2018Snapchat dysmorphia,\u2019 has patients seeking out cosmetic surgery to look like filtered versions of themselves instead, with fuller lips, bigger eyes, or a thinner nose.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trend is \u201calarming,\u201d the authors write, because filtered selfies often show \u201can unattainable look and are blurring the line of reality and fantasy for these patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

They recommend therapy, medications, and an \u201cempathetic and nonjudgmental approach by the clinician.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to the commentary, a Facetune spokesperson told TIME<\/em><\/a>\u00a0that that app actually is \u201cbreaking the illusion of \u2018perfect body\u2019 ideals. Everyone\u2014from famous supermodels to your aunt\u2014is using it\u2026. It levels the playing field for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vashi, author of a book<\/a> on BDD, offers her dermatologist\u2019s take on the matter of appearance: \u201cEveryone looks fine. I feel like everyone\u2019s beautiful, in some way, shape, or form.\u201d<\/p>\n

This BU today<\/em> story was written by Rich Barlow<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BUSM authors warn of growing unhealthy body fixation known as \u201cSnapchat dysmorphia\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[91,90],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60774,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60772\/revisions\/60774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}