I was interested by a programme on TV last night which screened a live operation of someone having a rhinoplasty, more commonly known as a ‘nose job’. There were 4 young people in the studio watching on, all of them having considered this procedure for themselves. They were each joined by a friend or loved one, in some cases this other person was very much opposed to them having the procedure.

To me they all looked absolutely wonderful, good looking young folk. But I am not of the Instagram generation. One lad, an influencer, said that he actually apologised to his audience for his slightly crooked nose. Another girl, absolutely beautiful, felt self-conscious about her nose which she recognised as being like her father’s, very much an Indian nose.

This all seems incredibly sad to me. That people can be so adversely affected by what they see as ‘imperfections’, and have this desire to all look the same, without any inherited character traits. I was looking at my old school photo the other day (70s, a lot of hair!) and it struck me that we all looked very different, individual and somehow, characterful. These days there seems to be the ‘homogenised’ look, certainly for many young girls, the long blonde hair, thick eyebrows and plumped up lips. There almost seems to be a fear of somehow looking ‘different’. It reminds me in a sinister way of the film ‘The Stepford Wives’.

This programme was in sharp contrast to the one I had been watching previously, ‘the world’s fattest man’ where a compulsive eating disorder led Paul Mason to have a complete disregard for his body and health, to ultimately become a life threatening 80 stone. He had a gastric band fitted and initially lost a lot of this weight, but was sadly now putting the weight back on.

Both of these extremes seem to show a disrespect for the self and an inability to regard oneself with kindness and compassion.

It just goes to show that whatever medical procedure we resort to, it can only go so far in changing our perception of ourselves.

I see many young people in my practice and it has been truly wonderful to see how hypnotherapy can help them to see themselves as amazing, even with (or should that be especially with) all their imperfections.

Wendy xx