“My granddaughter would like to resort to aesthetic medicine”
Letter of the week
At 18, my granddaughters spend a lot of time on Instagram. One of them confided to her cousin that she didn’t like her lips, which were “too thin.” Colline would like to “plump them up” with hyaluronic acid injections. My daughter, her mother, who deplores this, would like to dissuade her. Colline tries to look like someone else, influenced by current models on social networks. How can I help her accept herself as she is? Élyette
THE POINT OF VIEW OF MARCEL RUFO, CHILD PSYCHIATRIST
This is a common question among teenage girls, often even before the age of 18. It is maintained by social networks, which imprint on them a way of being in the world and tend to impose models. This is where all their danger lies, because the solutions that the Internet offers most often find an echo among young people who are prey to self-doubt and their image. The real issue is not physical but psychological. You must therefore seek the deeper meaning of your granddaughter Élyette’s request. Is she having difficulties at school? In relationships? Without rushing her, you could help her, based on her aesthetic concerns, to formulate the questions she is trying to avoid. The discomfort that the image of her lips causes her may mask an underlying disorder. To prevent her from closing herself off during your exchanges, tell her, according to your feelings, that you have always found yourself pretty and that her attitude questions you. Or, if you prefer, that you have never found yourself perfect but that you accept yourself very well as you are. Your testimony is important. Rest assured, Colline will be attentive to it.
