Surge of People Seeking Plastic Surgery to Look Like Their Snapchat Selfies

A new phenomenon has created a surge of clients for the plastic surgery industry. Medical professionals have seen an increase in patients who wish to go under the knife to make themselves look like their filtered selfies. Doctors believe that the unrealistic enhancements done by filter features in apps such as Snapchat and Instagram are creating a new wave of body dysmorphic disorders.

Snapchat, Instagram, and other popular apps have a filter feature that enhances a user’s facial profile by blurring out marks such as wrinkles, lightening the skin and eyes, and altering the dimensions of the face. The term has been dubbed as Snapchat dysmorphia by medical professionals. By seeing an embellished version of oneself on filtered selfies, a person assumes the false notion that their appearance is inadequate. While the filtered features might look alluring in a picture, it does not necessarily mean it will be the same in real life. Furthermore, some of the changes are not medically possible.

By definition, dysmorphia is a psychological disorder where a person falsely believes that there is something wrong with their body’s appearance. The fashion industry has usually been blamed for promoting dysmorphia by setting a certain standard to what is considered “beauty”. Now technology has joined the fold by fostering peoples insecurities and egotism. Selfie culture along with social media bombards one with filtered selfies that, much like the fashion industry, creates a standard of beauty that is often unrealistic.