If feeling that you look ugly has reached the point of checking the mirror over and over and thinking over and over about changing it, get a body-image assessment before you talk about surgery

About 15% of people seen in plastic surgery have body dysmorphic disorder, which means magnifying a flaw other people can barely see until it affects daily life. About 13% of people seen in dermatology have it. In both groups, more than 70% are women. Book 1 visit first, see whether this is your situation, and only then decide whether to have surgery.

Cost

Register for 1 visit at a psychiatry department or a clinical psychology department. Tens of yuan. The hard part is making this trip before you book the surgery.

Benefit

33 studies were found by the rules and then combined. Among people seen in plastic surgery, the rate of body dysmorphic disorder (magnifying a flaw other people can barely see until it affects daily life) was 15.04%, and the studies ranged from 2.21% to 56.67%. In headcount, about 15 of every 100 people who go for plastic surgery meet it, and study by study the count runs from 2 to 57. Their mean age was 34.54±12.41 years. The second figure is how far the ages spread up and down. 74.38% were women. Among people seen in dermatology the rate was 12.65%, and the studies ranged from 4.52% to 35.16%. Mean age was 27.79±9.03 years, and 76.09% were women. The authors suggest that plastic surgeons and dermatologists assess on their own initiative, pick out the high-risk people, and have several departments manage them together. Another study asked 200 patients with body dysmorphic disorder. 71.0% had sought non-psychiatric treatment such as dermatology or plastic surgery, and 64.0% had received it. The authors' conclusion was that this kind of treatment "rarely improves" body dysmorphic disorder, and looks ineffective for it.

Notes

The proportions measured in the studies run from 2.21% all the way to 56.67%. The gap is very wide. The reason is that the questionnaires and the groups of people surveyed were not the same. So all you can read from it is that the proportion is not low, and that it is worth screening once first. You cannot treat 15.04% as an exact figure. The grade is B for this reason too. At this proportion, most people who go to plastic surgery do not have body dysmorphic disorder. This item is aimed at the small group in whom it is repeated, ongoing, and already affecting work and social life. Surgery and skin treatment rarely make them better. Clues listed by the British NHS include spending a lot of time comparing your looks with other people, checking the mirror all the time or avoiding mirrors entirely, going to great lengths to cover a body part, and picking at the skin to make it "smooth." It affects work, social life, and relationships.

Sources · 3

1. Ribeiro RVE (2017). Prevalence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder in Plastic Surgery and Dermatology Patients: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Aesthetic Plast Surg. doi.org/10.1007/s00266-017-0869-0
2. Crerand CE, Phillips KA, Menard W, Fay C (2005). Nonpsychiatric medical treatment of body dysmorphic disorder. Psychosomatics, 46(6), 549-555. doi.org/10.1176/appi.psy.46.6.549
3. NHS. Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/body-dysmorphia/