People suffering appearance anxiety due to online meetings
As many people turn to virtual conferencing for work meetings and social catch-ups, psychologists have to notice a worrying trend.
Victoria
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Stressed workers are fronting psychologists with Zoom appearance anxiety due to long hours spent on virtual meetings and social catch-ups.
Melbourne psychologist Meredith Fuller said some of her clients had increased anxiety due to the way they look online.
“They’re spending all day looking at their own image and wondering if they are measuring up,” she said.
“I have clients who are petrified they are going to be judged by how they look by others while they are working from home.
“Some are wondering if they should get a neck tuck, while others are getting up early to put on fake tan before they get on to Zoom,” she said.
“They work out the perfect angle so there’s no double chin and see it as part of protecting their image and a reflection of how well they are coping with working from home,” Ms Fuller said.
Her comments come as major companies say working from home will become the norm for thousands of staff.
A new US study of 400 women in their 30s published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders shows those with poorer self-esteem tend to spend more time worrying about how they look on screen.
Although overall time on Zoom doesn’t change people’s feelings about their looks, it facilitates “body checking” which is a risk factor in disordered eating.
The authors, led by Professor Gabrielle Pfund from Washington University, say this could be a reason why further extension of telehealth may not help all patients.
“Appearance comparison was associated with more frequent usage of certain Zoom features, such as the ‘touch up my appearance’ feature, and more time spent looking at oneself on video calls,” Prof Pfund said.
Balwyn North mother of four Debbie Rossi has been kept busy running kinesiology and meditation workshops online during lockdown and said people had been “reaching out and looking for connections”.
“Most of the time it’s on Zoom, sometimes Facebook Live, so I am on a screen a lot,” she said. “You look at yourself on screen and it’s only natural to judge how you look. The kids laugh at me as sometimes only my top half looks good.”
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