Woman with Selfie Dysmorphia Turns to Plastic Surgery

Lucy O’Grady, a mother and full-time caregiver for her autistic son, suffers from selfie dysmorphia. In fact, she became so hooked on photo retouching apps that she decided to have plastic surgery to look more like her airbrushed photos.

O’Grady has undergone Botox, teeth whitening and lip and chin fillers in an effort to look more like her photos. On the British TV show, ITV This Morning, O’Grady said she became self-conscious about her natural appearance after viewing versions of her appearance changed by Photoshop. She said, “I downloaded the apps and started to edit my pictures when I took them. I found when I was feeling down I would take some pictures. It was a quick fix to take pictures, edit and upload, thinking I look alright there.’

She went on to add “The trouble is when you look back in the mirror after taking away your flaws you become dissatisfied with what you are seeing."

Besides being obsessed with her look in the retouched photos, her self-confidence took a hit after a person she met online said that O’Grady looked different in person.

To make a change in her appearance, she started getting fillers in her top lip as well as her chin. To maintain her results, she started getting the treatments at least twice per year. Her surgery addiction included a trip to Prague for rhinoplasty.

O’Grady realized she needed to make a change in her life because she was “too preoccupied with how I was looking. Financially, it was eating away at me and I realized I could spend the money in better ways. I took a break from social media and went on holiday."

The social media break helped her end the cycle of plastic surgery. O’Grady says she is now happy with her appearance. She feels many women are suffering from low self-esteem and need to realize that selfies are just “a fake reality”.

MA