There has been a huge increase of botched plastic surgery patients who have who are found to have imaginary deformities caused by body image disorders according to many psychiatrists.
Body dysmorphia – an obsession with appearance that makes sufferers turn to excessive plastic surgery because of perceived defects – have been observed in a growing number of patients aged 13 to 70.
The patients often manifest excessive worry over their facial features, breasts, body hair, and perceived genital deformities. And 90% of them want plastic surgery, and about 40 percent already went under the knife.
However, the disorder doesn’t stop with one plastic surgery procedure. More often than not, the patients go through repeated procedures but still feel ugly. Worse, when the procedures fail, it means more suffering to the already unstable patient.
There is now a need to really screen patients who are planning to undergo plastic surgery. Experts say that perhaps 15% of patients who are visiting plastic surgeons might be suffering from the disorder. But some doctors still operate on them, worsening their case.
Health experts are also aware that botched plastic surgery can be very devastating to the patient. Seeing people who have been terribly disfigured after a failed procedure is enough to conclude that these poor patients have been scarred for life and the trauma left by these incidents could very well be the cause of depression and anxiety.
The cause of body dysmorphia is unknown but many experts are pointing at the media and the social pressure to be young and beautiful as major factors.