One in three people feel uncomfortable in video calls: the fault of “dysmorphophobia”

was called the zoom effect thatdissatisfaction with one’s image, especially the face, which many have experienced by looking at the screen during the long sessions of video calls, single or group, made during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to an Australian study published in theAesthetic Surgery Journalthis dissatisfaction with the features of the face it would show up in at least one in three people. The study was carried out on over 350 adults, subjected to specific questionnaires. In many cases it was found that people have put in place manipulation techniques of their own image and that during the sessions their attention was often captured more than by the contents under discussion by the concern for their face considered so unsatisfactory, inevitably exposed to the gaze of so many people.

A mass phenomenon

The phenomenon can now be considered mass, if we consider that between the end of 2019 and the present moment there has been a proliferation of video calling platforms and that their use has increased by about 20 times. And it has been calculated that the use of these platforms can be compared to one self-observation in the mirror for about half an hour a day, a completely unusual behavior in the general population. Previous research indicates that even after brief exposure to the mirror, perfectly healthy men and women can experience increased stress and image dissatisfaction say the research authors, led by Toni Pikoos of the University of Technology’s Center for Mental Health. of Hawthorn, Australia. This effect is exacerbated in people who already suffer from dysmorphic concerns or with eating disorders, which often have a complex and problematic relationship with the mirror, which oscillates between excessive control of one’s own image and complete avoidance of the mirror. For them, image control leads to selective attention to unwelcome aspects of their appearance and to their magnification. In this way, an increased self-awareness of negative aspects of one’s image ensues.

Excessive worry

The authors also suggest some possible strategies to try to avoid these risks. For example, try to observe the images of other people’s faces more than your own, try turning off your computer’s camera, at least when you are not talking. Dysmorphic worry becomes maximum in people suffering from dysmorphophobia, a term which indicates a real mental disorder characterized by a constant and disproportionate concern for some small defects in physical appearance, or even for defects that in reality they do not exist and no one else is known, if not the person directly concerned. The person feels ugly and abnormal when in reality he is within the range of normal variability.

Unattainable ideals

Those with perfectionistic personality traits, low self-esteem and low levels of extroversion are more exposed to dysmorphophobia. They can easily feel rejected by others and consequently reduce their social and recreational activities, and sometimes even work ones, to a minimum. It is also understood how dysmorphophobia is facilitated by the promotion through the media of increasingly ideal and unattainable physical images. And the more a person with dysmorphophobia torments himself with the idea of ​​his own abnormality, the more he becomes obsessed with checking in the mirror, a vicious circle from which it becomes difficult to get out. Dysmorphophobic worries can affect more than one area of ​​your body, but concern for a single area is the most common. above all the aspect of the skin to worry, on which there is the presence of imperfections related to acne or scars, redness or wrinkles, or the presence or absence of hair or hair where one would like there to be or not.

Critical points

The nose, due to its prominence on the face, is another point of frequent concern, as are the eyes, belly or breasts. These concerns may be associated with some behaviors aimed on the one hand to try to reduce stress, on the other hand to try to correct the hypothetical defect at home. These are real compulsive rituals that take up a lot of time, aimed at masking or even just comparing them with images of other people, often taken from magazines or from the Internet. But rather than reducing anxiety and the sense of inadequacy they tend to increase it.

Need for reassurance

Even the constant request for reassurance addressed to family members or professional figures almost never allows for a definitive overcoming of one’s doubts. There may be momentary benefits, but doubts are likely to reappear soon. In many cases this real psychological drama lived in silence and in solitude, so the disorder is not detected, although it can also induce real states of chronic anxiety and depression, states of panic, or induce the use of drugs. Sometimes the pediatrician or family doctor to notice dysmorphophobic tendencies and to start adequate treatment. But in many other cases the disorder is not detected and then it is possible that the person begins to undergo a series of specialist visits. It is more frequently addressed to dermatologists, dentists and plastic surgeons, with the aim of achieving a correction of the non-existent or almost non-existent defect. Moreover, any corrective measures implemented are almost never satisfactory, so the cycle is not interrupted.