By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: Filters on social media can be fun and sometimes can even make people feel admired and beautiful. But using filters that change the natural features of the face can make teens, men and women turn to plastic surgery to look more like the filtered version of themselves. In addition, it can lead to Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), which is a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about the flaws in their appearance. According to psychological and social consultant Hassan Al-Mosawi, social media can ruin people's mental health, affirming that the time spent on social media, overusing these filters, can do more harm than good, by altering expectations. Each app turns them into completely different versions of themselves, which will result in dissatisfaction with their features, specifically among women.

Hassan Al-Mosawi

Mosawi also told Kuwait Times that the mental health impact of beauty filters on social media should not be ignored. "People begin to expect to look like their filtered selves and can become obsessed with achieving this in the real world, which leaves them depressed, anxious and disappointed. Your self-esteem and satisfaction in life can be negatively affected, particularly after using image-altering filters that 'beautify' the face and body.

Filters on social media can affect body image and self-esteem, especially among groups who are less aware of its devastating repercussions on psychological life," he pointed out. He said that humans are always in conflict with themselves, where men and women always tend to show their positive sides. On the other hand, few are satisfied with themselves and accept what they really look like. "There are insecurities in each one of us and filters fill that emptiness. Social media have created aesthetic standards in order for a person to be socially acceptable," he told Kuwait Times.

"Social media have played a major role in shaping the thinking of hundreds of users. Imperfection and blind imitation without thinking of the consequences play a major role in the spread and evolution of filters," he noted. Mosawi urged people to develop an image of themselves, as they are not as their followers want, as well as work on being sensible, which is to think in an intellectual, practical and realistic way, leaving the outward appearance aside. He noted that the development of thought helps to develop self-satisfaction and become more mature, otherwise people will have to live in an endless psychological crisis. "A person should search for a level appropriate to his abilities and not aim for abilities greater than what he can achieve. He must be convinced that humans are imperfect and the pursuit of perfection and people's satisfaction is unrealistic. He must employ his abilities and strive to be a balanced person in his eyes," Mosawi noted.

According to a report in Wall Street Journal, the impact of these filters on users' mental health is real and not a secret. In an internal document, it stated that Facebook is aware of the harmful effects these apps have on women. The document reported: "Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they were already feeling bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse" and "Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13 percent of British users and 6 percent of American users traced the issue to Instagram."