Caption: Certain standards of beauty are impossible to achieve.

The obsession for physical perfection is suffered by many people, who, dissatisfied with their image, look for alternatives that, sometimes, far from satisfying them, cause them to end up totally depressed because of the expenses and time wasted.

Such fixation not only leads to problems such as depression, but even digestive problems, according to a team of scientists from the Moscow State University of Psychology and Pedagogy.

Reaching certain standards of beauty sometimes becomes impossible and then the level of dissatisfaction generates a crisis.

To counteract the effects of such a tendency, a method was developed to diagnose this psychological state that attaches great importance to appearance, which will help to develop measures of psychological hygiene and prevention of disorders to help young people achieve a healthy and harmonious treatment of their bodies, Konsultativnaya magazine reports.

Experts claim that the phenomenon of ‘negative treatment’ of one’s own physique is a consequence of ‘the internalization of the ideal image that exists in today’s popular culture’.

Thus, many resort to the use of retouching and various alterations, which in the end, the psychologists point out, is unrealistic and unnatural, and if it does not result in feelings of rejection of oneself.

This procedure consists of a questionnaire that includes three subscales that evaluate the manifestation of the willingness to resort to plastic surgery to correct imperfections, high standards of physical appearance and the degree of attention.

Also, the inclination to make unfavorable comparisons with other people and suffering in relation to alleged defects.

The research proved that ‘there are close links between indicators of this method with body dissatisfaction and symptoms of depression and worry’.

(Taken from Orbe)

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