What is selfie dysmorphia and how do Snapchat and Instagram filters affect sufferers?

It's said apps that alter our appearances are now blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Here's what you need to know about selfie dysmorphia.

What is selfie dysmorphia?

It's reported that US medical journal JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery claimed filtered images are “blurring the line of reality and fantasy” and could be triggering body dysmorphic disorder, becoming fixated on imagined defects in their appearance.

A plastic surgeon has warned that he has seen patients bringing photos of celebrities with the Snapchat filters and requesting their digitally enhanced features.

Dr Matthew Schulman, a board-certified plastic surgeon based in New York, said: "Everybody basically is using a filter on their own and they’re either taking that next step to bring it to me saying, ‘Hey, this is what I want to look like’.

“Not everyone is going that far, but in their head, that’s what they want to look like and then they’re coming to me and saying I want smoother skin, I want my eyes to be opened up, I want my lips to be fuller."

How do Snapchat and Instagram filters affect sufferers?

Speaking on how filters on apps such as Instagram and Snapchat can affect a person's perspective on their appearance, Renee Engeln, professor of psychology at Northwestern University, and author of Beauty Sick said: "There’s an issue with losing perspective on what you actually look like, and it’s not something we talk about much.

"It’s not enough [to] have to compare yourself to these perfected images of models, but now you’ve got this daily comparison of your real self to this intentional or unintentional fake self that you present on social media."

She said it's "one more way" to feel like you're falling short each day.

She added: “It’s a real bind we put women in when we give them this non-stop pressure to conform to this particular beauty ideal and then try to shame them when they feel that pressure and they do something about it."

“I don’t think that’s the key here. I think what we want to be moving toward is more real representations of ourselves and I think that’s becoming harder and harder."

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