Plastic Surgery Denial Syndrome

"Your lips are not meant to be flotation devices for your face in case it capsizes." Carol Leifer

Have you seen Nicole Kidman lately? Delta Burke? Pamela Anderson? Kathie Lee Gifford? I have and it makes me really sad. All of these women were either beautiful, or just plain pretty, prior to having too many procedures to try and keep their looks. Joan Rivers is famous for too much plastic surgery, as was Michael Jackson. Nicole Kidman was a very beautiful woman, who most likely would have aged well, but now...

So what I wonder is: When these people look in the mirror now, what do they see?

Do they look in the mirror and say, "Wow, am I hot now. Don't I look young and fabulous?"

Or do they see what we see? If they see what we see, they would not come out of the house. They would sue their plastic surgeons, and they would immediately stop injecting Botox, Restalyne, Juvederm, etc. They would wait, in the shadows, until their faces took on some semblance of human, and then reemerge looking maybe older, but still like themselves.

Poor Priscilla Presley was injected with a bogus filler that has ruined her face. At least Priscilla has publicly told her story and admitted that she knows she looks horrible, but what about all the others who seem to think they look fabulous?

I think there is some plastic surgery denial syndrome in play. I am a psychotherapist and work primarily with women dealing with weight and body image issues. What I have learned is that when it comes to weight, we cannot see ourselves accurately. We cannot see when we have gained weight and we cannot see when we have lost it. It is the strangest thing. The only time we can see, is when we see ourselves unexpectedly. Like in a store window as we pass by, a photo, a dressing room mirror at angles, etc... There is a weight denial syndrome in play for sure.

My guess is that it is the same thing with bad plastic surgery. You go into it for the purpose of looking better. Maybe it is just too much to take, and to admit, that you went through surgery, major anesthesia, paid a lot of money and came out of it looking worse. Maybe we can never really see ourselves and if there is a core of self-loathing, any change is good. I don't know, but I wonder out loud. What do you think?

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Comments

[krisgarfield]

I loved Sharon Osbourne's remark regarding Nicole Kidman's face...something like "Her face looks like a bloody flat screen TV". Kudos! At least Ms. Osbourne admits to her little habit.

It's all about self cherishing. MEmemememe­meeeeeee..­.every little line. pimple, sag is a major event in their self absorbed lives. They have lost perspective because they forgot what it means to be aware of the world around them...you know...OTHER people and their situations. It's that mirror...oh heavens! Perish the thought of having to look away. Their obsession, I believe, borders on OCD. Something clicks in their bubble heads after staring at their image for perhaps 3 hours straight. I mean hell, if I looked that long , I'd probably start to hallucinate....uh oh, one eye is 1/100th lower than the other...those laugh lines? Evidence of human expression ? Be Gone!

My mirror time limit...5 seconds,,,and RUN."

[gfk]

Thanks Irene. That core of self loathing is really what it must be all about. That and the intense focus on these people must be a bad combo.

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for your comment gfk. Yes I agree and would add that as a woman, in the business, it is not OK to look older. Women are going to great lengths to avoid it. Sad.