Plastic Surgery: Hobby for Psychopaths

Plastic surgery can help you change completely, giving you a different nose or different eye shape. Yet, doctors argue that those who resort to plastic surgery suffer from low self-esteem. They recommend consulting a psychiatrist prior to going a surgery route. Larisa Vedeneeva, a plastic surgeon of a Moscow clinic, shared her thoughts with MedPulse.ru.

“Mostly people come to us when they are not happy with the way they look. Of course, sometimes we have patients with defects that interfere with normal life,” she explained.

“For the most part, a desire to change the face or body is a result of certain psychological issues. Say, a woman was told by her partner that she had a snub nose while he liked straight noses. For some, this is enough of a reason to get a surgery. Or, a husband leaves his wife with small breasts for someone with large breasts, and the abandoned spouse rushes to get breast implants.

Of course, we will help. But first, we recommend consulting a psychologist. We have our staff psychologists in the clinic. Such behavior is a sign of low self-esteem. Why would you change your face to please someone? What if later someone else criticizes your new appearance? Would you go under the knife again?

There are women like this. I had a patient who had eight surgeries. She had a facelift, a rhinoplasty, eye shape alteration, etc. She was a “professional” gold digger. She tried to please each of her husbands by changing her appearance. Then, a divorce would follow, and a new husband would have different preferences, and so on.

There are people who treat plastic surgeries as a hobby. They do facelifts every year; they change other things, because it makes them feel more confident and comfortable. Physiologically, frequent plastic surgeries are not good for your body since they leave scars, over-tighten the skin, making it look unnatural, and some surgeries can even cause rejection (for example, liposuction), etc.

Even if we deny a surgery, the rejected patient will go to a different clinic with more accommodating doctors. There always be doctors who are more concerned with money than medical ethics.”

According to Larisa Vedeneeva, the most frequent clients of plastic surgeons are wealthy people and celebrities.

“Men also resort to plastic surgeries. They often ask us to remove their bellies or excessive fat from the thighs. Sometimes showmen want a facelift, but generally, men are less obsessed with their looks than women.

Women trying to get their youth back with plastic surgery are notorious. When such surgeries are overused, facial skin becomes overstretched and looks unnatural. It is not a pretty sight . It is much better to take care of yourself with anti-age cosmetics and procedures because it is safer and more efficient.

There is another extreme when altering the appearance with plastic surgeries becomes an obsession. We are talking about a psychological disorder. A young woman, a daughter of wealthy parents, consulted me three times asking for ears correction. She had very pretty ears, but she thought they were ugly. She had a distorted image of her appearance.

We denied her a surgery, and when she came back with her mother, we advised the mother to take her daughter to a psychiatrist. They never came again. They either found a good shrink or a more accommodating doctor.”

Larisa Vedeneeva thinks it would be logical to introduce a mandatory psychiatric consult prior to surgical procedures.

“Before you come to a plastic surgeon, think twice whether you really need it. It might be just a whim, and surgical interference can be very harmful for your health. There is a certain ratio of unsuccessful surgical procedures, and you should always keep it in mind,” the doctor recommends.

Irina Shlionskaya
Medpulse

Read the original in Russian