Pressure to Go Under the Knife

Plastic surgery, once the purview of a privileged few, is growing as social media plays an increasingly important role in our lives. And we have some nipped and tucked stars with smartphones to blame.

For instance, pop star Iggy Azalea recently admitted her rhinoplasty and breast augmentation.

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Kylie Jenner didn’t “make it” as an “US Weekly”-worthy star until recently. Over the past couple of years, the 18-year-old reality show star has blossomed into a bombshell — with the help of plastic surgery. More surgeries, more clicks: It’s the coin of the realm for today’s social media starlets.

Yahoo recently suggested the “stigma of plastic surgery is vanishing.” But Jennifer Berger, executive director of the nonprofit About Face, encourages young women to think twice before succumbing to the pressures in social media and celebrity culture to undergo plastic surgery.

“It’s a ‘They did it, so we can do it too’ attitude. All they really are concerned about is, ‘Could I afford it if I wanted to do it?’ Or, ‘Will my mom let me do it?’” said Berger of the teens she works with. “I think it is becoming much more normalized with kids stating that they see it as a way to solve the ‘problem’ of their appearance.”

And they can turn to their favorite media stars, and their respective Twitter feeds, for moral support.

As a result, the broader cultural conversation about plastic surgery has deteriorated, reducing the matter to one of “acceptance.” For those on the fence about plastic surgery, comments from celebrity figures like Azalea only help to articulate and rationalize the decision to go under the knife.

The movement to normalize plastic surgery is misguided and dangerous.

“There are things I didn’t like about myself that I changed through surgery,” Azalea said. “There are other things I dislike but I’ve learned to accept.”

Unfortunately, many girls and young women hear only the first part of Azalea’s view, and opt for surgery to fix what they deem “problems.”

But the movement to normalize plastic surgery is misguided and dangerous. Rather, communities should make attempts to normalize plastic surgery addiction by starting a 12-step group on the topic, even if the network is limited to Los Angeles to start. After all, acknowledgment is always the first step to recovery.

Indeed, recovery is the operative term, no pun intended.

We savor the next “freak” who appears on “The Swan,” “Dr. 90210” and “Botched.”

“Plastic surgery addiction falls into a category of addictions known as behavioral or process addictions,” said Howard Samuels, a clinical psychologist who runs The Hills, a rehab center in Los Angeles, where he treats patients who suffer from a wide range of addictions.

“In a behavioral addiction, an individual is addicted to a specific behavior despite apparent negative consequences,” Samuels says on his website.

We have indulged in sensational stories of plastic surgery addiction since at least 2004. Shows like “The Swan” or “Dr. 90210″ features the freaks of excessive plastic surgery, but also, in some ways, seek to mainstream the practice.

But horror stories don’t often sink in. Consider the tragic story behind Tobias Strebel, who spent five years altering his appearance to resemble Justin Bieber. He was found dead earlier this year, either by suicide or an accidental drug overdose.

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Strebel isn’t alone. As the Daily Mail reported, plastic surgery is leading to self-loathing, disappointment and even suicide. The Hollywood Reporter assessed the role of mental illness in plastic surgery following a horrific, public suicide that took place in Beverly Hills in 2014, when a famous jewelry designer jumped to her death while recovering from a routine facelift.

Plastic surgery is a potential trigger for addictive personalities, and communities would do well to acknowledge the ramifications of an increasingly obsessed culture.

“Unlike drug addicts who suffer from chemical addiction, plastic surgery addicts experience mental obsession to alter their bodies and faces. Typically this comes from underlying insecurities and desires to look a certain way, to fit their personal ideal of beauty,” Samuels said.