It has also been shown to increase motivation and improve overall quality of life. In addition, plastic surgery often helps those who suffer from body image problems by restoring their sense of attractiveness and worth. All of this leads to a greater sense of pride and appreciation for one's appearance. Most studies indicate that, in general, people are satisfied with the outcome of cosmetic procedures, but few rigorous evaluations have been performed. Turns out so, according to a new study.
It may seem like common sense when you look at it, but clinically speaking, surgically treating a part of the body that causes anxiety and insecurities can help you deal with those same negative feelings. If a person is unhappy with their body image, should we offer them a surgical solution or should we help them address their anxieties? If you think this suggestion is an affront to people's right to do what they want with their bodies, consider it. According to seven epidemiological studies, women who enlarge their breasts have a suicide rate two or three times that of the general populationIt is to be assumed that there is an underlying dissatisfaction that causes some people to resort to breast surgery and that surgery does not solve. There is a known psychological condition called body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), and several studies suggest that about 10% of people who undergo cosmetic surgery have this condition.
However, if you have obsessive-compulsive affective disorder, cosmetic surgery won't be effective in making you feel better about your body. According to activists, more than 725,000 people in the UK are affected by a eating disorder. One of these conditions, anorexia, has the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses. Since liposuction does just that, it's no surprise that it's the most popular cosmetic surgery in the United States.
I have learned much more about all of this recently, because I am part of a working group on cosmetic procedures of the Nuffield Bioethics Council. Cosmetic surgeons from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery55 discovered that these patients were well aware of body dysmorphic disorder. and that they were reluctant to operate. However, several predictors of a poor prognosis emerge from the literature, suggesting that surgeons should be careful when performing cosmetic procedures on people with these characteristics.
Psychiatric literature studies suggest that patients with body dysmorphic disorder often have a poor psychosocial prognosis after cosmetic procedures and that, from time to time, patients with this disorder even show violence to the treating surgeon. Several studies investigated the personality profiles of patients undergoing aesthetic procedures and found no change in personality as a result of the procedure. Several studies reported improved social functioning, relationships, and overall quality of life4,18,21-26 after cosmetic surgery procedures. Finally, most of the studies evaluated very specific procedures and it is not clear how generalizable their results are to other types of aesthetic intervention.
The above review reveals that there is only rigorous and limited scientific data to help doctors predict who will do poorly psychologically and psychosocially after a cosmetic procedure. In addition, these procedures are performed by a variety of different professionals, including aesthetic doctors, dermatologists, and plastic surgeons. The authors reviewed the literature on the psychological and psychosocial outcomes of people undergoing cosmetic surgery to determine if elective cosmetic procedures improve psychological well-being and psychosocial functioning and if there are identifiable predictive factors of an unsatisfactory psychological result.
