The gradual distancing that began during the pandemic has led to the fact that online meetings and video calls have become an integral part of the life of not only remote employees, but also office workers.
Zoom dysmorphia: what teleworking and video communication led us to (photo 1)
Dmitry Skvortsov
Plastic Surgeon
The Zoom app is helpful. You can organize a scheduled business meeting or have spontaneous negotiations with colleagues, including those who are on a business trip in another city or country, using video communication. This situation prompted sociologists to conduct new studies, and reports have shown that increased screen time has given rise to a phenomenon called “scale dysmorphia” or “zoom dysmorphia.” And it has become the main reason for the increase in the number of aesthetic operations.
WHAT IS ZOOM DYSMORPHIA?
Zoom dysmorphia is a psychiatric disorder characterized by increased aversion to one’s own appearance during video calls. With each session of video communication, a person begins to look for new imperfections in himself, most often visible only to himself.
The International Journal of Women’s Dermatology published the results of a study in which it coined the term “a form of body dysmorphia disorder” (BDD). Research was carried out to find out how, when looking at themselves in a video for a long time, some people experience a sense of “negative self-image”. More than 100 dermatologists and surgeons, as a result of surveys, confirmed that they work with patients who critically perceive their appearance on the screen and, in this regard, think about cosmetology and surgical measures.
Unfortunately, people don’t take into account the fact that their enlarged image can be distorted due to poor lighting, blurred backgrounds, or camera performance. They just think: “How horrible I look! Bags under the eyes, cheeks. It’s time to do something about it.”
Psychologists, for their part, point out that throughout history we have not had the need to look at each other’s faces so often and for so long. Unlike Zoom sessions, we look at our photo or reflection in the mirror in a matter of seconds. Therefore, we do not immediately notice the changes that occur with the appearance over time: wrinkles, sagging of soft tissues, changes in the contours of the face.
Zoom dysmorphia: what teleworking and video communication led us to (photo 2)
CONSEQUENCES OF ZOOM DYSMORPHIA
The strength with which people are prone to zoom dysmorphia makes it possible to understand the increased appeals to plastic surgeons. The doctors themselves note that recently the demand for facial plastic surgery has increased, and this was facilitated by the coincidence of three conditions:
1) people started scrutinizing your appearance in online meetings;
2) with the transition to remote work, they have more time to search for solutions on the Internet and “samples” on social networks;
3) thanks to remote work, it was possible to recover from the operation at home.
Of course, not in all cases it is necessary to resort to surgical intervention. If there are no indications, the most correct advice would be to carefully care for the skin.
THE MOST POPULAR ZOOM DYSMORPHIC SURGERY
In recent years, the main areas of “improvement” in patients have become the parts of the face where ptosis is most noticeable, that is, sagging skin. Among the most popular operations are skin tightening in the chin and neck area, blepharoplasty. Rhinoplasty, although not associated with ptosis, is also among the popular interventions.
