Remember the days when people would bring photos of celebrities to the plastic surgeon’s office and ask for Angelina Jolie’s lips or Brad Pitt’s jaw line? That’s not the case anymore. 
 
 Now, people want to look like themselves — heavily edited or filtered versions of themselves, that is. 
 
 Doctors have spotted a trend of people bringing in their own selfies, usually edited with a smartphone application, and asking to look more like their photos, according to an article recently published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery by researchers from Boston University School of Medicine’s Department of Dermatology. 
 
 The phenomenon is known as “Snapchat dysmorphia,” and it’s causing widespread concern among experts who are worried about its negative effect on people’s self-esteem and its potential to trigger body dysmorphic disorder, a mental illness classified on the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. 
 
 “This is an alarming trend because those filtered selfies often present an unattainable look and are blurring the line of reality and fantasy for these patients,” the article states. 
 
 Neelam Vashi, an assistant professor of dermatology at the Boston University School of Medicine and one of the article’s authors, told The Washington Post that “Snapchat dysmorphia” is a result of people now being able to edit away any imperfections with ease. 
 
 “It’s remarkable,” said Vashi, who is also a board-certified dermatologist. “What used to lie in the hands of . . . celebrities and beautiful people who were innately beautiful made to look more beautiful, now it’s in the hands of anyone.” 
 
 On Snapchat, for example, the picture messaging application features upward of 20 filters that users can toggle through by simply swiping across their phone screens. Aside from adding flower crowns or puppy ears, filters can give a person freckles, longer eyelashes, wider eyes and flawless skin, among other augmentations. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter also allow people to edit their photos in the application before uploading. 
 
 Other applications such as Facetune take things a step further. For $3.99, users have access to a host of editing tools such as teeth whitening and making a person’s forehead, nose or waist smaller. The application has been lauded as “a Photoshop editing job in the palm of your hand” and even called “magical.” 
 
 While people most often use filters or editing software for minor fixes such as clearing blemishes or plumping lips, Vashi said traditional cosmetic procedures largely can’t reproduce the “instant fix” people see in their edited photos. 
 
 “Sometimes I have patients who say, ‘I want every single spot gone, and I want it gone by this week or I want it gone tomorrow,’ because that’s what this filtered photograph gave them,” she said. “They check off one thing, and it’s gone. That’s not realistic. I can’t do that. I can make people a lot better, but it will take me a lot more time than a week, and it won’t be 100 percent.” 
 
 Of course, people have long obsessed about their looks, comparing themselves to the idealized images in the media, said Northwestern University psychology professor Renee Engeln during a 2013 TEDx Talk. 
 
 “Our sense of what’s real, what’s possible when it comes to beauty, is warped by our overexposure to these images,” Engeln said. “Instead of seeing them for what they are, which is extraordinarily rare, we start to see them as typical or average.” 
 
 Engeln described people who spend too much time worrying about their appearance as “beauty sick.” 
 
 “When you are beauty sick, you cannot engage with the world,” she said, “because between you and the world is a mirror. It’s a mirror that travels with you everywhere. You can’t seem to put it down.” 
 
 However, the term “Snapchat dysmorphia” was just coined this year by British cosmetic doctor Tijion Esho. 
 
 According to the JAMA article, “Snapchat dysmorphia” is a form of body dysmorphic disorder. Also known as body dysmorphia or BDD, the condition is a mental disorder that causes people to be “extremely preoccupied with a perceived flaw in appearance that to others can’t be seen or appears minor,” according to the Mayo Clinic. People who have BDD tend to obsess over their appearance and body image, often checking the mirror, grooming or seeking reassurance for many hours a day, the clinic said. Treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy and medication. 
 
 “Today’s generation can’t escape ‘the Truman effect’ because from birth they are born into an age of social platforms where their feelings of self-worth can be based purely on the number of likes and followers that they have, which is linked to how good they look or how great these images are,” Esho told the Independent. 
 
 Until recently, only models and celebrities could take flawless, envy-inducing photos, the JAMA article said. However, given the accessibility of editing applications, once seemingly unattainable beauty standards now flood social media feeds daily, and the “perfect” people in the photos are your friends, classmates and family members, the article’s authors wrote. 
 
 “Our society is becoming more and more preoccupied, obsessed with social media and images and photographs and what we look like,” Vashi said. “Now, everywhere you go people are taking selfies and then going on social media.” 
 
 According to the annual American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery survey, selfies continue to be a driving force behind why people wish to get plastic surgery done. 
 
 In 2017, the survey found that 55 percent of surgeons reported seeing patients who requested surgery to look better in selfies — a 13 percent increase from the previous year’s results. 
 
 Being inundated by these edited images on a regular basis can take a toll on people, Vashi said, adding that looking at a photo of yourself and not seeing the same thing reflected in the mirror or an unedited photo can make people unhappy. In some cases, it can even lead to developing body dysmorphic disorder, she said. 
 
 “It can bring feelings of sadness, and then if one really develops this disorder, that sadness clearly progresses to something that can be dangerous and alarming,” she said. 
 
 A 2007 study published in Primary Psychiatry found that about 80 percent of people suffering from body dysmorphic disorder “experience lifetime suicidal ideation and 24% to 28% have attempted suicide.” 
 
 While various experts, including plastic surgeons and psychologists, have cautioned against Snapchat dysmorphia, Vashi said it is unlikely that people will change their behavior in the near future. 
 
 “It sounds like people are still going to do it because they like it. They like the way they look,” she said. “I’m just one small person in a big world, I can’t change everything, but I can make people aware and recognize and know that it’s not the real world. It’s like living in a fantasy.” ||||| Snapchat and Instagram filters are influencing how young people think about beauty. 
 
 Alarmingly, more people are requesting plastic surgery to look better in selfies, according to the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 
 
 And in one disturbing emerging phenomenon, dubbed "Snapchat dysmorphia," some patients are getting plastic surgery to look more like their filtered selfies. 
 
 According to Boston University researchers, digital filters are likely contributing to a rise in body dysmorphia, where people are overly anxious about their appearance. 
 
 
 
 Instagram and Snapchat filters are the new celebrity photo, offering up unrealistic standards of beauty that might trigger people to feel unhappy with the way they look in real life. 
 
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 That's according to three Boston University researchers, who published an article about body dysmorphia in the JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery medical journal this month. The article is not a study, but an overview of industry research and studies. 
 
 Body dysmorphia is a mental health condition where people feel unduly worried about the way they look, and the authors wrote that Snapchat and Instagram filters were "altering people’s perception of beauty worldwide." 
 
 They highlighted one especially disturbing phenomenon: "Snapchat dysmorphia." They characterised this as an emerging phenomenon where plastic surgery patients no longer ask to look like celebrities, but more like their own filtered selfies with "fuller lips, bigger eyes, or a thinner nose." 
 
 Snapchat dysmorphia was first reported by The Independent earlier this year, when a cosmetic surgeon said more women were asking to look like their selfies. The Boston researchers wrote: "This is an alarming trend because those filtered selfies often present an unattainable look and are blurring the line of reality and fantasy for these patients." 
 
 Lucy Yang/INSIDER 
 
 They added: "It is known that the angle and close distance at which selfies are taken may distort facial dimensions and lead to dissatisfaction. Patients may seek surgery hoping to look better in selfies and social media." 
 
 And according to the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 55% of surgeons reported seeing plastic surgery patients who wanted procedures to improve how they looked in selfies in 2017, versus 42% the prior year. 
 
 "Overall, social media apps, such as Snapchat and Facetune, are providing a new reality of beauty for today’s society," the Boston authors wrote. "These apps allow one to alter his or her appearance in an instant and conform to an unrealistic and often unattainable standard of beauty." 
 
 Business Insider has previously written about how the filters that come pre-loaded on certain smartphone cameras, especially on Asian phones, whiten people's skin and airbrush features. 
 
 According to the Boston University researchers, the ready availability of filters and self-editing on phones is an alarming problem that is likely contributing to rising body issue anxieties among young people. 
 
 They said: "Models and actors were made to look perfect in magazines and ads, but the general public did not have easy access to methods to alter their own appearance ... Today, with apps like Snapchat and Facetune, that same level of perfection is accessible to everyone. Now, it is not just celebrities propagating beauty standards: it is a classmate, a coworker, or a friend." 
 
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 SEE ALSO: How popular smartphones make your skin look 'whiter' in selfies ||||| Irvine, Calif., Sept. 13, 2016 – Regularly snapping selfies with your smartphone and sharing photos with your friends can help make you a happier person, according to computer scientists at the University of California, Irvine. In a first-of-its-kind study published just before back-to-school season, the authors found that students can combat the blues with some simple, deliberate actions on their mobile devices. 
 
 By conducting exercises via smartphone photo technology and gauging users’ psychological and emotional states, the researchers found that the daily taking and sharing of certain types of images can positively affect people. The results of the study out of UCI’s Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences were published recently in the Psychology of Well-Being. 
 
 “Our research showed that practicing exercises that can promote happiness via smartphone picture taking and sharing can lead to increased positive feelings for those who engage in it,” said lead author Yu Chen, a postdoctoral scholar in UCI’s Department of Informatics. “This is particularly useful information for returning college students to be aware of, since they face many sources of pressure.” 
 
 These stressors – financial difficulties, being away from home for the first time, feelings of loneliness and isolation, and the rigors of coursework – can negatively impact students’ academic performance and lead to depression. 
 
 “The good news is that despite their susceptibility to strain, most college students constantly carry around a mobile device, which can be used for stress relief,” Chen said. “Added to that are many applications and social media tools that make it easy to produce and send images.” 
 
 The goal of the study, she said, was to help researchers understand the effects of photo taking on well-being in three areas: self-perception, in which people manipulated positive facial expressions; self-efficacy, in which they did things to make themselves happy; and pro-social, in which people did things to make others happy. 
 
 Chen and her colleagues designed and conducted a four-week study involving 41 college students. The subjects – 28 female and 13 male – were instructed to continue their normal day-to-day activities (going to class, doing schoolwork, meeting with friends, etc.) while taking part in the research. 
 
 But first each was invited to the informatics lab for an informal interview and to fill out a general questionnaire and consent form. The scientists helped students load a survey app onto their phones to document their moods during the first “control” week of the study. Participants used a different app to take photos and record their emotional states over the following three-week “intervention” phase. 
 
 Subjects reported their moods three times a day using the smartphone apps. In evening surveys, they were asked to provide details of any significant events that may have affected their emotions during the course of the day. 
 
 The project involved three types of photos to help the researchers determine how smiling, reflecting and giving to others might impact users’ moods. The first was a selfie, to be taken daily while smiling. The second was an image of something that made the photo taker happy. The third was a picture of something the photographer believed would bring happiness to another person (which was then sent to that person). Participants were randomly assigned to take photos of one type. 
 
 Researchers collected nearly 2,900 mood measurements during the study and found that subjects in all three groups experienced increased positive moods. Some participants in the selfie group reported becoming more confident and comfortable with their smiling photos over time. The students taking photos of objects that made them happy became more reflective and appreciative. And those who took photos to make others happy became calmer and said that the connection to their friends and family helped relieve stress. 
 
 “You see a lot of reports in the media about the negative impacts of technology use, and we look very carefully at these issues here at UCI,” said senior author Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics. “But there have been expanded efforts over the past decade to study what’s become known as �?positive computing,’ and I think this study shows that sometimes our gadgets can offer benefits to users.” 
 
 About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu. 
 
 Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists. ||||| Instagram can be a good indicator of a person’s mental health. 
 
 At least that’s what two researchers, Harvard University’s Andrew Reece and the University of Vermont’s Chris Danforth, have written in a recent report. The study was based on 166 volunteers who were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk, where you can make money by completing “Human Intelligence Tasks,” and it looked at their entire Instagram histories, which came out to about 43,950 photos. 
 
 Participants’ levels of depression were determined using a standardized clinical depression survey. They were then asked about their social media habits and history of depression diagnosis. The researchers then analyzed their Instagram photos by looking at colors, brightness, and faces. 
 
 Those who were depressed tended to post photos with increased hue, decreased brightness, and decreased color saturation. Overall, their photos were “bluer, grayer, and darker.” They also tended to post more frequently and use more Instagram filters, the most popular one for depressed participants being Inkwell, which turns a photo black and white. The most popular filter for volunteers who weren’t depressed was Valencia. 
 
 The depressed participants were more likely to post photos that include faces, but their pictures tended to have fewer faces than Instagram users who weren’t depressed. Reece and Danforth write that this could be an indiction that depressed people generally have smaller social circles. 
 
 The study also asked participants to rank others’ photos based on four subjective elements: happiness, sadness, likability, and “interestingness.” The latter two didn’t appear to be significant indicators of depression and, predictably, depressed participants’ photos were ranked higher on the “sadness” scale. 
 
 “These findings suggest new avenues for early screening and detection of mental illness,” Reece and Danforth write, though they don’t elaborate on exactly how that would be implemented. Reece added in an email to Fortune that this is “just a first step, and a lot of work needs to be done before we can get to the point where an algorithm can reliably augment professional diagnostic decision-making.” 
 
 It’s notable that this study was posted to arXiv, Cornell University’s open access website that lets researchers publish findings before they appear in a formal publication. Reece told Fortune that the study has been submitted for publication and it is currently undergoing peer review. He added that feedback from both fellow researchers and medical professionals has been “generally positive.”
– Think you look better in your latest selfie than in real life? Then beware of "Snapchat dysmorphia," a newly dubbed term for people seeking plastic surgery to mimic their appearance in filtered selfies, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "Sometimes I have patients who say, 'I want every single spot gone, and I want it gone by this week or I want it gone tomorrow,' because that's what this filtered photograph gave them," dermatologist Neelam Vashi tells the Washington Post. "They check off one thing, and it's gone. That's not realistic. I can't do that." Researchers say the fixation may be a new version of body dysmorphic disorder (or BDD), a mental ailment that makes people obsess over any perceived flaw in their appearance. A 2017 survey of plastic surgeons first spotted the trend, which is fueled by photo-filtering and editing technology once available only to celebrities. "This is an alarming trend because those filtered selfies often present an unattainable look and are blurring the line of reality and fantasy for these patients," according to an article in the JAMA medical journal co-written by Vashi. What's more, BDD is a serious mental disorder that can require cognitive behavioral therapy and medication—and lead to suicidal thoughts in 80% of sufferers, per a 2007 study. Just seeing an unfiltered image of oneself "can bring feelings of sadness" for some people, says Vashi, "and then if one really develops this disorder, that sadness clearly progresses to something that can be dangerous and alarming."