After the numerous tips on how to prepare yourself properly for a successful procedure it’s time to consider if you actually are “fit for the exercise”. Let’s be real: Not everyone is an appropriate candidate for plastic surgery, despite physical indications which are ideal for any given procedure.
Experienced plastic surgeons can usually identify troubled patients during a consultation. Sometimes, plastic surgeons will decline to operate on these individuals. Other times, they may recommend psychological counseling to ensure that the patient’s desire for an appearance change isn’t part of an emotional problem that no amount of surgery can fix. If your plastic surgeon recommends counseling for you, feel free to ask your surgeon how he or she expects the sessions to help you.
- Patients in crisis, such as those who are going through divorce, the death of a spouse, or the loss of a job may be seeking to achieve goals that cannot be obtained through an appearance change – goals that relate to overcoming crisis through an unrelated change in appearance is not the solution. Rather, a patient must first work through the crisis.
- Patients with unrealistic expectations, such as those who insist on having a celebrity’s nose, with the hope that they may acquire a celebrity lifestyle; patients who want to be restored to their original “perfection” following a severe accident or a serious illness; or patients who wish to find the youth of many decades past.
- Impossible-to-please patients, such as individuals who consult with surgeon after surgeon, seeking the answers they want to hear. These patients hope for a cure to a problem which is not primarily, or not at all physical.
- Patients who are obsessed with a very minor defect, and may believe that once their defect is fixed, life will be perfect. Natural perfectionists may be suitable candidates for surgery, as long as they are realistic enough to understand that surgical results may not precisely match their goals.
- Patients who have a mental illness, and exhibit delusional or paranoid behaviour, may also be poor candidates for surgery. Surgery may be appropriate in these cases if it is determined that the patient’s goals for surgery are not related to the psychosis. In these cases, a plastic surgeon may work closely with the patient’s psychiatrist.
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