By Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a serious, life-threatening mental illness characterized by invasive, obsessive thoughts regarding the body or appearance. Social media filters can aggravate BDD symptoms in sufferers, but there are steps we can collectively take to help ease this unnecessary distress.
BDD Symptoms
BDD symptoms are often referred to as compulsive or avoidant episodes. Mental Health America describes avoidant episodes as depressive states brought on by outside stimuli that triggers despair regarding the physical appearance. According to the ADAA, compulsive episodes involve taking immediate and sometimes severe action to attempt to hide or alter small or imagined flaws in the physical appearance.
BDD symptoms can be triggered by exposure to stimuli that exacerbates self-discrepancy – conflicting beliefs of the self – in the sufferer. The conflicting self-beliefs people with BDD typically entertain are as follows: the belief of the reality of the individual’s physical appearance and the belief of an “ideal” physical appearance.
In the clinical study “Self-Discrepancy in Body Dysmorphic Disorder,” David Veale and his colleagues found that patients diagnosed with BDD “have an unrealistic ideal or demand as to how they should look,” and the symptoms of the disorder are severely worsened by a perceived “failure to achieve their own aesthetic standard.”
Social Media Filters and False “Ideals”
Social media filters are partially responsible for the creation of the impossible “ideal” that exists in the mind of many people, whether they struggle with BDD or not. Snapchat and Instagram specifically exacerbate the discrepancy between an “ideal” appearance and a realistic appearance through the use of face-modifying filters.
Board-certified Dr. Daniel Maman, a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society of Aesthetic Surgery, explains how “Snapchat filters refine the face, smooth blemishes [and] wrinkles, and give the skin a glow. Some filters also make the eyes appear bigger and lips plumper.”
The subtle improvements in appearance Snapchat filters create produce minimal but still present inconsistencies in how one appears on social media and in reality. Though these changes may seem subtle or trivial, the popularity of these filters and trends driven by slight alterations to the appearance spur some people to request cosmetic surgery altering their faces to more closely resemble how they look with filters applied, according to Dr. Maman.
Heather Senior Monroe, director of program development at Newport Academy, a mental illness treatment center specializing in in-patient and outpatient programs for teenagers, stated the following regarding how Instagram specifically warps the perception of “ideal” versus realistic appearances:
“Whether they use beautifying selfie apps or curate their images in other ways, teens who use . . . Instagram . . . are presenting to the world a filtered, idealized view of themselves and their lives. Yet, at the same time, they find it hard to believe that everyone else is doing the same thing, so they end up comparing their real, imperfect lives — and their real, imperfect bodies — to not only their own filtered images, but other people’s carefully crafted selfies. Thus, in their minds, they are always coming up short.”
How We Can Help
Potentially triggering posts on social media can be marked using systems already in place such as the tagging system to ensure people with BDD can avoid consuming the media, similar to how alcoholics can avoid situations where alcohol is present.
The tagging system utilizes a hashtag (this symbol: #) followed by a brief, relevant description of the post that categorizes published content. On Instagram, a hashtag can be added to an entire profile, a 24-hour story post, to a specific main-page permanent post, or to a reel. Most importantly, users have the ability to explore, follow, or block certain hashtags.
By tagging edited media or posts using filters with something as simple as “#filter” or “#edit,” people suffering from BDD would be able to block that hashtag, avoid consuming media that might trigger the symptoms of their disorder, and live happier, healthier lives.
Ris Writes 