Yearly, an increasing number of individuals from all over the world go through different kinds of plastic surgeries. Our beauty-obsessed culture drives the increasing demand for quicker, better, longer-lasting cosmetic surgical procedures to the point that the quest itself becomes addictive. People, mostly women, who think that just one more surgery, just one more fix, will make them perfect.

According to recent studies, 66 percent of all patients who have a single cosmetic surgery will return to have another. They return, not because the first surgery failed, but because it succeeded and now the patient wants more. Often, these plastic surgery addicts have a perfect image in mind that they want to attain, whether it is a celebrity that they are trying to emulate, or their ideal picture of what they should look like. But is plastic surgery addiction is really bad? What causes someone to be addicted to plastic surgery?

Plastic surgery can become addictive for a number of reasons. One of the reasons for this addiction might be the unattainable perfection that is put forth as beauty in today’s media. People who are seen in television and fashion runways are unattainably beautiful. So the average person turns to plastic surgery try to attain this perfection.

Patients who are addicted to cosmetic surgeries get a high from the anticipation of the surgery, the preparation, and finally the positive comments after surgery. However, the attention received from the first surgery wanes, and the need for the emotional fix increases.

Plastic Surgery condition often stems from a condition called body dysmorphic disorder. This is a disorder that causes a person to consider them selves hideous, no matter how attractive they really are. Often times, they feel that they are not happy. They think that they must be beautiful to be happy. But the problem is that the lack of happiness does not stem from their physical appearance. Once people with this condition turn to plastic surgery, they have to go back for more, because the change in their appearance does not bring them the desired effect on their happiness.

Addiction to cosmetic surgery is not only financially costly; the patient pays a high price in yo-yo-ing self-esteem, and often damage to their over-all health. Repeated cosmetic surgeries can lead to permanent deformity and loss of function to some muscle groups.

If you suspect someone might be addicted to plastic surgery and if you notice some signs in someone you love, seek professional counseling, because the problem goes far deeper than the appearance on the outside. Addiction to plastic surgery is serious and potentially devastating, psychological problem. Making the decision to ‘go under the knife’ is never one to be taken lightly. It can have life-changing effect. Further cosmetic surgery addiction and BDD are serious psychological conditions that need treatment.