Snapchat filters are a social media phenomenon,
but could they be damaging to your mental health?
There are claims that these popular photo filters
promote fake self images
and make users dissatisfied with how they look in real life.
And it's something being called Snapchat Dysmorphia.
So, take a look at these split pictures of
Snapchat filtered selfies vs their real life image.
Experts reveal that these filters smooth, brighten,
they virtually can do anything to change
your skin, your eye shape, color of your eyes, nose,
cheeks, jawline anything that I can do with plastic surgery.
But, but!
But.
Your's is permanent though.
That's what I do, what can I say?
I'm not quitting my day job just yet, anyways.
And it's interesting because a lot of these filters
have also come under criticism because
they're promoting a very Western ideal of beauty.
And you have no control when you apply this filter,
it lightens your skin, it makes your eyes larger,
it changes your nose and your jawline
to fit a very specific ideal.
That's planting that seed of an image,
just like we see the images of very thin women
and young women growing up,
that's sort of the model they see, that they try to,
And you're setting them up for unrealistic expectations.
They can't meet these expectations.
So, if you can't meet these expectations
then how are you gonna be happy?
And who is it that you're putting out there in that picture?
Is that even you?
Is it like, is it who you wanna be?
And if that's who you wanna be,
then they need to figure out what's going on inside.
Of course, the psychologist in me, right?
And this is starting at such a young age,
that's the problem.
Well, all of us have something that
we don't like about ourselves.
People think, my nose might be too big or too small,
my lips too thin.
That's okay, that's,
They're not!
By the way, the challenge is when people
go on and they use these filters to change themselves
and as you said, it's unrealistic,
and it becomes dysmorphic when they obsess about it.
When they feel like this is something that I can't live with
and they become recluse, they become agoraphobic
and then they go, to add insult to injury,
they go and they get this done
and they take it to their plastic surgeon,
say, Doctor, can you fix this?
And underlying, that just means, I don't like myself,
I don't like the real me underneath there.
And all studies point to an increase in anxiety,
an increase in depression, decreased self esteem
as you said, right?
But I gotta tell ya,
do you want to hear something really sad?
The onset is age 12.
12.
These are the ages that kids are using Instagram
and social media, so they're very young.
This is the age that they're developing
into an adult, self image.
And if all they think about
there's nothing on my face that I like.
I mean, that is sad.
That is no way to go through life.
And Dr. Batra, you and I, in our practices,
dealing with cosmetic surgery and changes,
we see how social media is driving patients in to see us.
They make changes or they see something
in these selfies, photos, about themselves they don't like
and they say, boom, can we change that?
Well, in certain instances, that's okay,
if there's a certain feature they don't like
and they're mature and they wanna make changes
for the right reasons, then that's okay.
But when you get obsessed and there's nothing
about my face that I like, I wanna change everything.
Do you have people present to your office and say
because they've used these apps and filters
and say, this is what I want to look like?
Absolutely.
For sure we see that and,
In fact, there was one study that showed
that over 50% of the people seeking cosmetic surgery now,
are seeking it based on how they look in selfies
or how they look on social media.
So, I'm sure you see it in your practices.
Well everybody, when it comes to lips and noses,
everybody's coming in with a picture
and guess what, I'd say all the pictures
they bring in have been modified somehow by photo shop.
I think, probably the worst thing about it
is it becomes addictive as well.
You change one thing and then it's another thing,
and if you have that type of dysmorphia,
you also have an addictive personality,
which is gonna make people want more and more.
It can cause impermanent function.
People will take hours and hours to get ready.
They'll become reclusive, they won't leave their house.
And when you say addictive, guess what,
when you start posting pictures of yourself
that are filtered and you get lots of likes,
guess what, you wanna do it more.
Reinforces that, yeah.
Or, if you don't get a lot of likes,
you're going to adjust it 'til you get those likes
and that's where they spend their time.
