Extract with Dr. Yagoda
13-54 – Dr. Yagoda’s soundbite – People are used to criticizing themselves in photos and videos and more and more often are coming in to ask to look like they do with filters on. Yet, there are many people who are always unsatisfied despite any changes in their appearance.
Dr. Michelle Yagoda is a famous facial plastic surgeon in New York. She has been a leading expert for more than 25 years in her profession. Then and now, she stands by the same belief that before you blame the mirror for your discontent, you must look deeper into yourself.
Dr.Yagoda’s soundbite – Once a 30-year old patient came to see me, she looked great. She had beautiful hair and skin. She was fit and nicely dressed. She noted – I have some wideness in my nose that I would like to refine and I want my lips to look fuller…. I started to ask her some questions about her life and learned that she had recently turned 30 and had been hoping that she would be married, have a family with several children and an accomplished career by that age. But, she noted that it hadn’t happened and that her boyfriend of several years, who she was hoping to marry, had recently broken up with her only to marry someone else. She started to sob and I advised her to turn inward and find happiness. I suggested that she try to find a hobby and meaning in her life. I suggested that she use some medical skincare at home and come back to see me in half a year after she worked on her own self esteem. She did just that. Six months later when she called me, she sounded like a totally different person..content and happy with her life and her appearance and mostly grateful that I stopped her from doing any unnecessary procedures when she was down and sad.
The General Message
Snap and Instagram dysmorphia has become a common diagnosis worldwide, including in Russia. Young ladies have gotten accustomed to how they look on filtered selfies and then come to plastic surgeons asking them to change their actual appearance to reflect their filtered selfies. Some women don’t even care much about qualifications and reputation of the physician they select and they often choose unknown, cheap clinics based solely on price. Oftentimes, they receive terrifying results. The first lady in this report underwent rhinoplasty, and soon after her nose started to collapse. Now she has regrets and doesn’t even understand why she – who was so good looking – decided to change her nose in the first place.
Moscow-based plastic doctors in the report explain that they believe women are selecting surgery in order to help them enhance their self-esteem. They note that they must often say ‘no’ to certain patients when they feel – that surgery would not make them feel any better.
Some of the bloggers in the report share that they decided to stop using filters and speak out about it to try to start a trend focusing on natural-looking beauty in the blogging and fashion world. Psychologists explain that this obsession with flawless skin, full lips, and a narrow noses is the result of the popularity and pressures promoted by bloggers on social networks. They note that this trend is particularly dangerous for teenagers and children because of the toll it takes on psychological health. Many agree that it is important to embrace unique beauty without obvious artificial changes!