The phenomena of Snapchat dysmorphia

Our generation is addicted to social media and how we reflect on them. Since the beginning of filters on Snapchat and Instagram, teenagers are developing insecurities about what they look like in real life and what they look like in their filtered selfies.

Those applications offer perfecting filters that smooth the skin, thin your face, and change your eye colours. Those photo-editing technologies have resulted in a new illness scientists are calling “ Snapchat Dysmorphia”.

The term Snapchat dysmorphia was coined by Dr Tijion Esho, a cosmetic doctor. It’s a phenomenon where teenagers are undergoing plastic surgery to look like they do in their filtered selfies and it may be a sign they are suffering from an underlying mental health condition.

As these images of perfect girls, with smooth skin, pretty freckles and big green eyes become the norm on social media, and now in real life, the idea of what is attractive worldwide also changes.

The emergence of Snapchat dysmorphia comes after previous studies found social media negatively impacts self-esteem and increases the risk of mental health issues. In a 2015 report from the Office for National Statistics, more than a quarter of teenagers who use social media for more than three hours a day were found to have problems related to mental health.

The issues here is to protect young people from all these platforms that don’t show us the reality of life and to keep fighting and support the wave of positive beauty and acceptation.

- Emma Marie