Mental health checks advisable before cosmetic surgery says doctor

[mzdemeanour]

I don't really want to get into a debate about the rights or wrongs of cosmetic surgery but found this article interesting.

telegraph.co.uk/gift/9d66993c632fc370

Some of the scenarios/attributes of people seeking surgery for what they think of as flaws/problems seem to be not dissimilar to those seeking so-called sexual reconstruction surgery.

The similarities are staggering: “The quest to... enhance and preserve one’s beauty is entirely natural and nearly universal... If it becomes irrational, we need to be looking out for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD),” he said.
BDD affects one to two per cent of people according to the charity, the BDD Foundation, which says the condition “sadly has one of the highest suicide rates of all mental health conditions with 1 in 50 making an attempt on their life”.
...
BDD also disproportionately affects young women and girls, affecting about six per cent of females aged 17 to 19.
...
The condition often presents alongside other mental health issues such as depression, anxiety or eating disorders.
“BDD may have its origin in insufficient self-confidence or obsessional compulsive disorder or depression or even, in rare cases, psychosis – at least six surgeons have been murdered by psychotic BDD patients,” the dermatologist said.
He said doctors should take a detailed medical history and examination with questionnaires to identify if there are any psychological problems that need treating.
It comes after a series of patients have died by suicide following botched cosmetic surgeries taking place in Turkey."

@heathspeedwell That's what I thought - similar cohort with the same probably unrealistic expectations of what can or will be achieved. I am amazed that the medical profession as a whole do not see the similarities and call for the same duty of care/mental wellbeing checks to be carried out in both situations.

What a great article to have found and posted here, thank you so much mzdemeanour .

You could substitute the word 'transitioning' almost anywhere, and it would be absolutely accurate - in fact, I wonder how professionals carrying out 'gender reassignment/sexual reconstruction' surgery would respond to this critique of cosmetic surgery.

As well as this, it also made me think about the cohort most disproportionately affected -young women aged 17-19 - and the current promoting of cosmetics, 'skin care routines' etc to little girls as young as 8 or 9, sowing the seed early in childhood that there is something wrong or potentially wrong with how they look, and they need to spend lots of [their parents'] money on warding off the spectre of imperfection.

Of course, that's also the cohort disproportionately transitioning - so imperfect as girls that they'd look better as boys??