Snapchat dysmorphia

Psychological phenomenon Snapchat dysmorphia, also known as selfie dysmorphia, is a term used to describe patients who seek out plastic surgery in order to look like their filtered selfies or altered images of themselves. The increasing availability and variety of filters used on social media apps, such as Snapchat or Instagram, allow users to edit and apply filters to their photos in an instant – unblemish the skin, narrow the nose, enlarge the eyes, and make numerous other edits to one's facial features. These heavily edited images create unrealistic and unnatural expectations of one's appearance, showing users a "perfected" view of themselves. The disconnect between one's real-life appearance and the highly altered versions of oneself manifest into body insecurity and dysmorphia. This distorted perception of oneself can potentially evolve into an obsessive preoccupation with perceived flaws in one's appearance, a mental disorder known as body dysmorphic disorder (or BDD). BDD has been classified as part of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum and it is estimated to affect one in 50 Americans. Illustration of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) Relationship between social media use and