@aestheticsgroup
Aesthetics Journal
Aesthetics aestheticsjournal.com
The issue is that not all practitioners may recognise that some conditions may appear in different ways according to individual patients and that patients may not show symptoms all at once, so a quick diagnosis can be difficult. To help avoid such circumstances, I believe all practitioners offering aesthetic treatments should have extensive, compulsory psychological training and that they should conduct mandatory patient screening before offering aesthetic treatment to patients.
The Last Word Consultant plastic surgeon Mr Ibby Younis discusses the importance of psychological education and training for professionals working in the aesthetics specialty Cosmetic and aesthetic interventions in the UK are popular treatments. It is difficult to find current non-surgical statistics to reflect this; however, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), 31,000 people went under the knife in 2016. Although this figure was significantly lower than 2015, with 40% more procedures, BAAPS acknowledges that this decrease could be attributed to the rising popularity of non-surgical cosmetic procedures.1 In addition, reports by GBI Research indicate that the global facial aesthetics market will experience rapid growth from $2.5 billion in 2013 to $5.4 billion by 2020, at a compound annual growth rate of 11%.2 Taking these significant developments into account, safety and duty of care have never been more important. However, it’s not just physical safety that should be a priority, but the mental wellbeing of patients too. Prevalence of psychological concerns in patients It is not unusual for aesthetic practitioners to consult with patients who are showing the signs of depression, psychosis and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). According to The Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation, surveys have suggested BDD affects about 2% of the population3 and studies have indicated that of individuals who seek aesthetic medical treatments, 5-15% suffer from BDD, suggesting that it is common for these types of patients to present for treatment at an aesthetic practice.4,5 It is also not uncommon for symptoms to go undetected until after procedures. According to the Foundation, there has been very little research on the treatment of patients with BDD, however, in a study of 265 surgeons, 84% reported having operated on a patient only to realise postoperatively that they had BDD.5,6 This could be because screening processes are not always rigorous enough and, in some cases, BDD might not be detected until after a number of consultations.
Problems that arise when psychological issues aren’t recognised Whilst procedures are designed to meet what patients consider as desirable aesthetic outcomes and may, in some cases, alleviate psychological suffering,5 more serious mental health conditions may worsen following intervention. A small prospective study of cosmetic surgery patients who requested treatment for minimal defects found that the majority of those who had BDD received surgery (seven out of 10 patients) and, at follow-up, most continued to have BDD and had developed new appearance preoccupations.5,7 However, in contrast to this, in a study of 250 people with BDD, 66% of patients had received cosmetic treatment for BDD concerns had no change in BDD severity.8 It is important to note that more severe issues can occur when psychological conditions such as BDD are not recognised. According to a 2007 study by Phillips, global rates of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and completed suicide appear markedly elevated in BDD sufferers.9 Current psychological education Medical degrees include compulsory psychology teaching and one of the required clinical rotations for medical students is psychiatry, but psychological issues are not always a huge focus of study. Nearly all nursing degree programmes include some psychology courses,10 whether a basic course in general psychology
I believe all practitioners offering aesthetic treatments should have extensive, compulsory psychological training and that they should conduct mandatory patient screening before offering aesthetic treatment to patients
Reproduced from Aesthetics | Volume 4/Issue 5 - April 2017