Cosmetic Surgery and Personality Disorders

Very often a person with a personality disorder may not realize that they don’t need cosmetic surgery. What they see in the mirror is different then what we see. They only see imperfections where we might see acceptance. Often their expectations of what plastic surgery can do to change their lives are unrealistic. They become codependent with the doctor and then are disappointed when changing their appearance does not transform their fundamental personality flaws.

Plastic surgeons will also avoid doing cosmetic surgery on someone with a personality disorder as they often “can’t win” with the patient no matter how good of a job they have done. The patient will always see himself or herself as ugly or imperfect no matter what.  They will then blame the surgeon and perhaps even sue as what they see in the mirror does not live up to unrealistic expectations.

Why would plastic surgeons be so wary of personality disorders in their clientele?  The reason is that that studies have proved that most people that seek out plastic surgery are looking for a cure for depression or some other type of disorder. A study done at Tulane University in New Orleans revealed preoperative psychological assessments of patients seeking cosmetic surgery. The statistics were quite scary. It tureens out that 44 percent of individuals who seek out cosmetic surgery have suffered from depression, 70 percent have suffered from anxiety, twenty percent had attempted suicide and twenty three percent had a substance abuse problem.

In addition 25% of these people were diagnosed with narcissism, 4 % with obsessive-compulsive disorders, one and half percent were schizoid and one and half percent were paranoid. Yet another nine percent were described as having borderline personality disorders.

If you have ever wondered why you might be asked to fill out a psychological prescreening before plastic surgery the above statistics are why. All of the types of disorders above represent people who are likely to be very dissatisfied with the results of their cosmetic surgery. The debate rages on among mental health professionals and cosmetic surgery practitioners about whether a mental health problem is improved by cosmetic surgery or made worse. This is why it is important for you to assess yourself by visiting professionals if you suspect you have a disorder that has to do with your self image and to do this before you consider any type of alteration to your appearance.