Women, psychology and breast implants

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http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/03/15/npsych15.xml & sSheet=/news/2003/03/15/ixhome.html

Women seek NHS breast enlargementBy Celia Hall and Derbyshire (Filed: 15/03/2003)

Increasing numbers of women are seeking surgery on the NHS to enlarge their breasts and are being given permission to have the operations, it emerged yesterday.

The surgery, which costs £3,000 to £5,000 in the private sector, is growing in popularity as women take the view that they are entitled to treatments which they believe will make their lives better, psychologists said.

Cosmetic surgeons have long recognised that some women seek plastic surgery because they believe that their problems will be solved by it.

The new problem for NHS surgeons has been to decide which women's lives will be improved by the operation and which women, who have more serious underlying psychological conditions, will experience no improvement in their mental well- being after breast augmentation.

In one English county demand has risen to such an extent that psychologists are now asked to vet the women with small breasts and decide who will benefit from breast enlargement surgery.

Owen , counselling psychologist for Northamptonshire NHS Trust, said at the British Psychological conference in Bournemouth yesterday: "A few years ago we saw one or two women a year. Now it is five or six every couple of months.

"About 75 per cent of them will genuinely be helped by breast augmentation surgery and we will recommend that they have surgery. Remember that these women have already been through their GPs who have decided that their difficulties are severe enough to refer them for cosmetic plastic surgery. It is a nightmare job to differentiate between the two."

Mr said the women who were turned down were offered therapy or counselling. But many can be helped by surgery, he said. "Some women are not going out, do not socialise or have relationships. "Often it is cheaper and more effective to have the operation than to dig around in their pasts."

A paper presented to the conference investigated the mental health of 37 women with small breasts who were seeking breast augmentation on the NHS.

They were compared with 27 women who were happy with their shape and had been matched for breast size. The study found that the women seeking surgery suffered more depression, anxiety and low self-esteem than the control group.

7 March 2003: Breast implants linked to suicide