Snapchat filters are the new plastic surgery goal

Where once plastic surgeons would be handed an image of a celebrity to inspire their work, now patients are bringing in their own selfies modified by a flattering social media filter.

This horrifying development in the human psyche is called "Snapchat dysmorphia," and it's explained in a new journal article published by Boston University School of Medicine researchers. Patients are "seeking out cosmetic surgery to look like filtered versions of themselves ... with fuller lips, bigger eyes, or a thinner nose," the report explains. "This is an alarming trend because those filtered selfies often present an unattainable look and are blurring the line of reality and fantasy for these patients."

"Sometimes I have patients who say, 'I want every single spot gone, and I want it gone by this week,' or, 'I want it gone tomorrow,' because that's what this filtered photograph gave them," Neelam Vashi, a co-author of the article, told The Washington Post. “That's not realistic. I can't do that. I can make people a lot better, but it will take me a lot more time than a week, and it won't be 100 percent."

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Rather than surgery, which may make the experience of dysmorphia worse, the researchers recommend "psychological interventions, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as medications."