SOCIAL MEDIA'S AFFECT ON MENTAL HEALTH

Social media filters can play a part in hurting our mental health. According to the Merican Medical Association, filtered pictures can take a toll on self esteem, body image, and even lead to body dysmorphic disorder(BDD). And those who enhanced their photos "were associated with high scores for body - related and eating concerns" according to the Academy for Eating Disorders(AED). And with covid, we are on our screens so much more, so we have more time to develop these habits. Thats not it, being unhappy with your body can lead to wanting to change your body. According to Dr. Ramani Durvasula, a clinical psychologist, "The more people look at doctored up images, the more likely they are to start seeking out cosmetic procedure, at younger ages".  62% of surgeons at the American Academy of Facial Plasitc and Reconstructive Surgery say patients wanted plastic surgery because of dissatisfaction with their social media profile. 57% said their patients wanted to look better in selfies. Dr.David Sayah, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon says "It's becoming more and more common where people will show me pictures on their instagram or even something they posted on facebook and say, this is really how i want to look". Dr. Gabriel Chiu, chief medical director and surgeon reports " I had a patient come in and ask me for more of an anime eye and then she couldn't figure out why its not possible". These are the cases we are seeing because of Social media filters. They hurt people a lot, and if we raise awareness about them, that can change. We can save so many people from getting BDD, we can save people from getting plastic surgery at young ages, We Can.