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Should cosmetic surgery be used to treat the symptoms ofbody dysmorphia?
Word Count: 5090
Introduction
Plastic surgery has become very accessible to anyone and it is also a process that has been developed
significantly over the years. The word ‘plastic’ in plastic surgery originates from a Greek word that
means ‘to form’ and in this case ‘to form tissue’ (Nejadsarvari 2016). Plastic surgery was developed
after WWI by Gillies then perfected by McIndoe in WWII however, it was originally designed to
reconstruct tissue for soldiers who have been severely injured from bombs and fires during the world
wars (National Army Museum). The original reason this process was created was so that these burnt
soldiers feel more confident about their appearance and so that they could try to forget about their
traumatic experiences. Since then, plastic surgery has evolved into two types; reconstructive and
cosmetic (“Overview - - - Plastic surgery”). The difference between the two is that reconstructive
surgery is to repair tissue for medical reasons whereas cosmetic surgery is used to alter the physical
appearance of a person for personal reasons. This essay will focus on cosmetic surgery rather than
reconstructive surgery as cosmetic surgery is a decision made by the patient rather than a patient
being told by a professional that they require surgery.
Cosmetic surgery, therefore, has psychological, social, and personal factors which encourage people
to undergo cosmetic procedures. This then leads to cosmetic surgery alluding to a psychiatric disorder
called body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) or body dysmorphia which is when a person ‘spends too
much time worrying about their flaws and their appearance’ (“Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)”).
Body dysmorphia mostly came from the idea of body images and how the media obsessively present
an idealistic body type. Some symptoms of body dysmorphia are; constantly being worried about a
particular feature of your body or face, direct comparison to others, staring into mirrors or avoiding
them, and concealing a lot of your flaws. These symptoms catalyse the effect of people wanting to
undergo cosmetic surgery. There is an exponential increase in popularity for cosmetic surgery that the
fundamental morality and psychological factors are potentially overlooked by others.
Body dysmorphic disorder can be stimulated through a person viewing pictures of celebrities on
Instagram, which is considered to be the most detrimental form of social networking (Walker 2019).
The reason why Instagram is so detrimental is that anyone can see the number of likes and positive
comments a celebrity can receive and the person viewing these might think less of themselves
resulting in low self-esteem because they are not praised for looking a certain way. Body dysmorphia
can also be developed at a very young age through young girls viewing Disney princesses (Pulver
2016). Disney Princesses are notoriously known for having “thin waist, delicate limbs, and full
breasts” (England et al. 556, 2011) which is an unrealistic and impractical body type for young girls to
be viewing. These examples show how easy it is for anyone to obtain body dysmorphia and how
unaware they can be towards it. It also shows the lack of variety and diversity within media and the
need for more diverse mainstream characters so that others can relate to them.
According to The Office for National Statistics they had found that the most popular use of the
internet was social media, between the ages 16-24 it had 96%, and 25-34 year-olds was 88% (stats
taken from Walker 2019). This sense of gloomy self-esteem can be a form of jealousy of not looking
like this ‘perfect’ person but it is also society that has accepted these beautiful people as a beauty
standard or ideal. As the trend of the use of social media increases, the amount of cosmetic procedures
also increases. More people are accepting these beauty ideals online from viewing comments of
approval from other people’s posts. In addition, as a society we are constantly looking for a sense of
approval from others and to be accepted by one another so that we fit in with everyone else as well as
feel included within society.
, The interest in this topic emerged from reading medical articles about how most people have cosmetic
surgery due to body dysmorphia. This essay will look into detail if cosmetic surgery is the most
effective and the best option in treating body dysmorphia or if a patient should try different alternative
methods first. The aim of the essay is to show the advantages and disadvantages of cosmetic surgery
and to also look into detail some underlying issues within society.
What are the benefits of cosmetic surgery?
There are some great benefits of cosmetic procedures such as it can help a patient to achieve their
desired appearance if they are unhappy with any aspects of their physical appearance (“Advantages
and Disadvantages of Cosmetic Surgery” 2019). The patient can easily achieve instant, long-lasting
results and does not need to worry too much about their ‘unwanted’ appearance returning. This can be
very beneficial to some people as they do not need to keep wasting money for touch-ups and they can
also maintain the self-confidence they have gained within themselves. Cosmetic surgery is, therefore,
an easy and accessible method in treating the symptoms of body dysmorphia which can boost the self-
esteem of a patient. An improvement to a patient’s confidence can lead to a more social life as people
who are insecure about themselves tend to not socialise and express their hidden emotions of their
mental struggles that they may be going through.
People who are more confident in themselves tend to also enjoy their personal and professional
opportunities more than less confident individuals. (Rappaport 2015). For instance, a study on
attractive real estate agents are able to sell higher estates and therefore can earn a higher wage than
those considered to be ‘unattractive’(“More attractive real estate agents mean higher prices and
profits” 2013). This demonstrates that if someone is considered attractive, they are more likely to be
more successful and wealthy. This also alludes to the sad reality of society praising more attractive
people than giving the same opportunities to everyone else.
Another benefit of cosmetic surgery is that not only can it ease the symptoms of body dysmorphia, but
it can also improve the patient’s physical health. For instance, rhinoplasty surgery can help solve
breathing issues, liposuction can help reduce heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Also,
botox injections can help reduce migraines by blocking pain-carrying neurotransmitters. This
suggests that cosmetic surgery can be very beneficial mentally and physically.
What are some of the treatment barriers in BDD?
Body dysmorphia is still an underdiagnosed psychological disorder (Felix 2014); there are also some
treatment barriers in BDD that prevent a patient from being treated properly. For instance, sometimes
body dysmorphia is diagnosed for other disorders, depression or anxiety which leads to BDD not
being treated adequately enough or not being treated at all (Schulte 2020). This suggests the lack of
proper diagnosis’ which can worsen BDD but can also develop other severe conditions. This further
demonstrates that body dysmorphia is not being discussed and diagnosed enough which suggests that
body dysmorphia is still yet to be fully discovered by professionals. In the Schulte article, they
suggest that treatment barriers in body dysmorphia may manifest in three things. One is that someone
may feel ashamed about having body dysmorphia and therefore will not discuss their concerns and
become untreated. The second is that psychological and psychiatric treatments are generally perceived
as ineffective so people might not even bother to get treatments because they think it is futile. The
third is financial barriers as they are unsure if insurance will cover it but this point is mainly towards
other countries rather than the UK. This suggests that people with BDD are either aware of it but have
a poor understanding of the psychological problems or perhaps they are completely unaware and may
not get any treatment at all. This then leads to people relying on cosmetic surgery to gain a better self-
esteem rather than looking into psychological treatments first because cosmetic surgery is an easier
way for them to ease the symptoms of body dysmorphia.
The article had also stated that cosmetic surgery generally worsens the symptoms of BDD or barely
reduces the symptoms. This suggests that people with body dysmorphia are very difficult to treat as
everyone’s experience is different and some treatments may work better on some than others. It also
implies that people should not resolve their BDD by immediately undergoing cosmetic surgery
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