Summary
Objective
During the past decades, cosmetic surgery has become increasingly popular. People
with certain psychopathology disorders, for example, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD),
are dissatisfied with their physical appearance, and a significant number try to receive
cosmetic medical treatment for their complaints. It seems relatively easy for them
to receive this type of surgery, despite the fact that it has no or even adverse effects
on the symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate the psychological condition
and especially the presence of psychopathological symptoms such as BDD in cosmetic
surgery patients.
Methods
Questionnaires about body image dissatisfaction, symptoms of BDD and psychopathology
in general and satisfaction about surgery were sent to patients who had been treated
in a large cosmetic surgery clinic.
Results
Of the patients who replied, 86% were pleased with the outcome of the cosmetic procedure.
Further, 21–59% of these former patients scored higher on questionnaires of body image
dissatisfaction and psychopathological symptoms than a norm group from the general
population. When differentiating the group on the basis of BDD symptomatology, it
appeared that the high BDD symptomatic group displayed significantly worse outcome
on all measurements. That is, high BDD symptomatic patients were more dissatisfied
about the result of surgery, exhibited higher levels of psychopathology, and had lower
self-esteem than the low symptomatic BDD patients.
Conclusion
These findings clearly suggest that the evaluation of the psychological condition
and motivation of the candidate patient might be a valuable addition to the standard
procedure in cosmetic medical treatment settings.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 26, 2011
Accepted:
September 23,
2011
Received:
August 13,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
