'Plastic surgery can mean depression'

A leading specialist today issued a new warning about the increasing numbers of people seeking cosmetic surgery in a bid to hold on to their youth.

More and more people are spending evergreater amounts of money on fashionable new techniques designed to delay or disguise the ageing process - but many are disappointed by the results and become obsessed with repeated and often expensive cosmetic procedures.

Dr Eileen Bradbury, a consultant psychologist interested in the perception of ageing, has coined the term "perma-youth" to describe people willing to spend a lot of money on facelifts and liposuction - but who merely end up depressed because they cannot turn back the clock.

Dr Bradbury today told a Royal Society of Medicine conference on ageing: "Increasing numbers are seeking multiple procedures and become addicted to the hope of what these treatments offer."

Meanwhile, at the same conference, other doctors were warning of the dangers of allowing people without qualifications to undertake specialist cosmetic procedures such as Botox injections, which involve putting a toxin into the face to freeze the muscles, and laser treatment.

Dr Bradbury told the conference, Ageing Skin in the New Millennium: "If it is possible to delay the signs of ageing, who would not choose to do so? However, if it becomes an obsessive preoccupation, then it leads to an increase in anxiety and vulnerability to depression.

"The problem lies with those for whom such treatments are a substitute for developing their own strategies for happiness and well-being. The more remarkable the treatment, the greater the psychological risk to vulnerable individuals."

Dr Bradbury, based in Cheshire, added: "I developed the term perma-youth to describe people coming to me for plastic surgery with real problems with ageing. There is an anxiety and panic which sets in when they see signs of ageing."

Such people think cosmetic surgery is the solution to their anxiety. But Dr Bradbury said: "They get the pre-surgery euphoria but, afterwards, their life is just the same and they become disappointed. There is also the risk that something can go wrong - people can be devastated when this happens - and there is the financial risk too."

The attachment of celebrities to cosmetic surgery is well-documented. Cher, Pamela Anderson and Julie Christie have all submitted to the surgeon's knife. An extreme example is Jocelyne Wildenstein, who earned the nickname Bride of Wildenstein for a face surgically sculpted into a look of permanent surprise.

Botox, which irons out wrinkles and lines, is now a fashionable procedure which has been embraced by celebrities including Meg Mathews and Patsy Kensit. Its popularity is soaring - statistics from the US show its use doubled between 1999 and 2000.

But experts speaking at the conference warned that procedures such as Botox and laser treatment were specialist techniques which should only be undertaken by a qualified doctor.

Conference organiser Kevin Hitchcock, of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons, said: "We are all concerned about the standards that exist in cosmetic treatment. There is little regulation in the private sector and that makes it easier for somebody just to set up. Strong regulation is something we would like to see."

Mr Hitchcock added: "Some people have an unrealistic expectation of what cosmetic surgery can do for them. We are keen that these people should get the right treatment.

"The prospect of an unqualified salesperson coming to your home to sell you a face-lift is clearly an exploitative thing. This is not double-glazing."

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