Editing selfie photos shared on social media by using modern digital features, can confuse people, and may even disturb their self-awareness, US researchers suggest.
In their study published Monday in the journal JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, doctors at the Boston University School of Medicine warned of the impact of these photos on a person’s body awareness.
The digital editing process may include skin improvements, color change in the face and the eyes, and teeth whitening. According to the German News Agency, all these improvements were previously made only in adverstisements.
In a statement on the study, Neelam Vashi, said: “Filtered selfies can make people lose touch with reality, creating the expectation that we are supposed to look perfectly primped all the time.”
Researchers led by Neelam Vashi noted that in a recent survey conducted over cosmetic surgeons in many countries around the world, 55 percent of the participants confirmed that one of their patients at least asked to undergo a cosmetic surgery that would improve their appearance in selfies. The rate of those doctors was 42 percent in 2015.
According to surgeons, patients who want to undergo cosmetic surgery to improve their images do not want to look like celebrities, but to maintain their features and beautifying them by making some improvements, such as fuller lips, bigger eyes, or slimmer noses.
The study authors considered that the widespread edited photos may reduce self-esteem in people, and may trigger body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which makes people focus for hours on physical blemishes that do not really exist. This disorder can lead to social or functional isolation.
