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THE FACE IN THAT FILTER DOES NOT EXIST
The Filter Said You Were Close
The App Said You Could Be This
The Feed Said Everyone Already Is
The Surgeon Said It Was Not Possible
You Went Back To The App
It Said You Were Close Again
THIS NEWSLETTER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NOTHING IN THIS CONTENT CONSTITUTES MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. ALWAYS CONSULT A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY HEALTH RELATED DECISIONS
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OKAY BACK FROM THE MIRROR THAT DOESN'T EXIST 📱
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THE FACE IN THE FILTER DOES NOT EXIST 🪞
In 2018
Plastic Surgeons Started Noticing Something New
Patients Were Arriving With A Photo
Not A Photo Of A Celebrity Or A Model
A Photo Of Themselves
Filtered
They Were Asking To Look Like That
The American Academy Of Facial Plastic And Reconstructive Surgery
Named It Snapchat Dysmorphia
Filters That Smooth Skin
Enlarge Eyes
Slim Noses And Restructure Jawlines Had Become The Reference Point
Not An Ideal Someone Else Had
An Ideal The Patient Believed Was A Version Of Themselves They Were Entitled To Reach
The Problem Is That The Face In The Filter Does Not Exist
It Is Not A Photo. It Is A Render
The Geometry Is Altered In Ways Biology Cannot Produce
The Light Is Fake. The Skin Texture Is Synthetic
Patients Were Not Pursuing A Standard
They Were Pursuing A Target Their Own Cells Are Physically Incapable Of Becoming
• Snapchat Dysmorphia ⇢ The Clinical Term For Patients Presenting Filtered Selfies As Surgical Targets, A Documented Pattern Named By Reconstructive Surgeons Who Began Tracking The Phenomenon Across Practices
• The Unreachable Reference ⇢ When The Goal Is A Digitally Altered Version Of Your Own Face, No Surgical Outcome Will Satisfy. The Loop Does Not End At The Procedure
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THE ALGORITHM DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS DOING TO YOU 📲
The Platforms That Distribute These Filters Also Run The Feeds
The Recommendation Systems Are Optimized For One Thing
Engagement
Appearance Focused Content Generates High Engagement
Particularly In Users Who Are Already Anxious About Their Appearance
The Algorithm Does Not Know It Is Feeding A Compulsion
It Knows You Stopped Scrolling
It Knows You Looked Longer
It Serves More
For A User With BDD Tendencies
This Creates A Closed System
More Comparison Content. More Beauty Standards
More "What I Look Like Versus What I Could Look Like" Content
Every Session Reinforces The Loop The Disorder Already Built
Engagement As Signal
The Algorithm Reads Anxiety As Interest. It Cannot Distinguish Between A User Who Enjoys Beauty Content And A User Whose Compulsion Responds To It. Both Get More
A Closed Loop
The Disorder Creates The Engagement. The Engagement Generates More Content. The Content Escalates The Disorder. There Is No Exit Built Into The System
What The Research Shows
Higher Social Media Use Correlates With More Frequent Body Checking, Greater Appearance Dissatisfaction, And More Severe BDD Symptoms. The Studies Are Accumulating. The Design Has Not Changed
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THE DISORDER THAT HIDES IN THE GYM 💪
BDD In Men Is Significantly Underdiagnosed
The Reason Is Not That Men Have It Less
The Reason Is That The Male Presentation Looks Like Something Else
It Is Less Often About Facial Features
It Is More Often About Body Size And Musculature
Specifically
The Fear Of Being Too Small
Not Muscular Enough
Insufficiently Lean
This Is Sometimes Called Muscle Dysmorphia
It Sits Inside Gym Culture In A Way That Makes It Almost Invisible
A Man Who Trains Every Day Is Disciplined
A Man Who Tracks Every Gram Of Protein Is Focused
The Culture Has Names For All Of This That Are Not Disorder Names
The Behavior Gets Social Reward
The Distress Stays Private
The Disorder Never Gets Named
Men Describing Muscle Dysmorphia Report Looking In The Mirror And
Seeing A Body That Is Inadequate
Not Despite The Training
After Years Of It
The Mirror Does Not Update
The Loop Continues
➤ Muscle Dysmorphia ☞ A Subtype Of BDD Where The Core Obsession Is Insufficient Muscularity Or Mass. Clinically Recognized. Severely Underreported. Often Mistaken For Fitness Dedication
➤ The Invisibility Problem ☞ The Behaviors That Signal Distress In This Presentation, Obsessive Training, Rigid Restriction, Substance Use, Are Behaviors The Surrounding Culture Actively Celebrates. The Disorder Has A Very Effective Cover
➤ The Same Loop ☞ The Man Who Cannot Stop Checking His Body In The Mirror After Every Workout Is Running The Same Cycle As The Person Who Cannot Stop Checking Their Nose. Different Content. Same Disorder. Same Silence
