There is no decision someone can make that every human will simultaneously approve of. Whether it is putting pineapple on a pizza or more weighty, like voting for a politician in an election, somebody will judge you for making that decision. One of those decisions is cosmetic surgery. Typically, it is often viewed as vain and self-obsessed, but there is much more to cosmetic surgery than what meets the eye - literally. Other than altering someone’s physical features and changing the way they look on the outside, it can improve mental health and change the way they feel on the inside. Cosmetic surgery can provide mental health benefits by improving confidence,  changing the way an individual is perceived, and treating medical issues.

  One of the most obvious reasons cosmetic surgery would help with mental health is the increase in confidence. Low self-esteem can cause serious mental disorders like depression and anxiety to form. Therefore, by increasing self esteem and confidence through methods like cosmetic surgery, mental health is improved because the chances of developing a mental disorder are lessened. In the article “How Plastic Surgery Can Improve Physical and Mental Health”, a woman named Sophie shares how plastic surgery helped her get her confidence back after receiving a double mastectomy for breast cancer. She states that “I saw what cancer did to [my mom] and I hated the thought of my children seeing me deteriorate in the same way. Plastic surgery helped me look and feel more complete” (Baura, 1). In other words, by Sophie getting a breast augmentation, a type of cosmetic surgery, she got to move on from the cancer that took so much away from her and go back to looking like the person she did before. This shows how cosmetic surgery can improve mental health, as it made Sophie feel comfortable and confident in her body again. Moreover, cosmetic surgery can improve confidence by helping people fit in. For example, breast surgery expert, Dr. Lam states that procedures like breast reconstruction “can give [women] the confidence in such social settings where she may be required to bare more skin than normal” (Baura, 2). This proves that breast reconstruction and other types of cosmetic surgery can improve somebody’s confidence because they can present themselves anywhere without feeling shy. This clearly improves mental health because a confident person is less likely to be anxious in a social setting. Similarly, cosmetic surgery can improve self esteem under other circumstances as well. For example, in the article “6 Scientifically-Proven Health Benefits of Cosmetic Surgery”, the author mentions that “cosmetic surgery can be a way to eliminate distressing, ceaseless insecurity that has been making you a little sadder” (Dental, 1). This quote implies that by removing insecurity from a patient, cosmetic surgery improves self esteem. Thus, cosmetic surgery benefits mental health because the confidence gained from losing insecurity makes you happier. As the expert opinions and personal account above proves, cosmetic surgery makes people more confident and happier, positively affecting their mental health.

Another reason that cosmetic surgery improves mental health is that it can change the way people perceive an individual.  According to Dr. Kevin Mo,“patients with droopy eyelids may appear tired all the time even if they’re not” (Baura, 2).To combat droopy eyelids, a patient can receive eyelid surgery to make them look more present and ebullient. Eyelid surgery can make a person more likable because they do not look jaded or inattentive, which subsequently improves their mental health as they no longer have to worry about being perceived as such. Furthermore, as Nicole Kirkpatrick states, “society perceives beautiful people as happier, more successful, wealthier, healthier and more intelligent” (Kirkpatrick, 2). By undergoing plastic surgery to make yourself more personable, a patient would also get the added benefits listed above. This would improve that patient's mental health significantly because if others think that they are happier and more intelligent, they would treat them that way. Being treated kindly can greatly improve someone’s mental health. Equally important, a study from Rice University shows that “subordinates favored attractive bosses and viewed them as more competent” (Kirkpatrick, 3).In other words, going through cosmetic surgery to become more attractive could also improve an individual’s mental health by way of the work world. Attractive people in the workplace get higher status because they are considered more competent and better leaders. That type of status in the workplace could massively improve an individuals’ mental health because they would be respected or even admired. In conclusion, cosmetic surgery changes the way people perceive a patient, a subconscious act done by others that provides mental health benefits to the patient.

The last reason that cosmetic surgery can positively affect mental health is that cosmetic surgery treats and cures medical issues. This includes physical health, which is directly tied to social and emotional health, as the mind and body work hand in hand. According to journalist Angela Baura, “Botox is also believed to be an effective treatment for depression. Three independent studies suggest that injecting Botox into frown lines significantly reduces the symptoms of major depression” (Baura, 3). Botox is a drug that relaxes muscles. Hence, patients of cosmetic surgery can get this drug injected into facial muscles to prevent wrinkles. As this quote suggests, putting Botox into frown lines reduces them and causes a person to look & feel happier. Consequently, Botox improves mental health because it can treat depression. Relatedly, medical expert Dr. Stephanie Lam notes that abdominoplasties, otherwise known as a tummy tuck, “repair the separated abdominal muscle and improve back pain and urinary incontinence”  (Baura, 4). This quote proves that plastic surgery is not just about appearances and making things like your waist smaller. More importantly, it shows how surgery eases physical pain. Physical pain can result in emotional duress and stress, so removing it altogether, by way of plastic surgery, mental health is enhanced. Moreover, the article “How Plastic Surgery Can Improve Physical and Mental Health” states that “Heavy breasts can cause neck and back pain, and they can cause a rash underneath the breasts, especially in the summer” (Baura, 3). The ailments listed above have an easy fix: breast reduction. Breast reduction is another type of plastic surgery that can ease physical pain and discomfort. As stated earlier, this improves mental health by easing stress and worry caused by physical discomfort. Botox, abdominoplasties, and breast reduction are only three of the many surgeries that improve physical and mental well being.

To sum everything up, cosmetic surgery has mental health benefits. Though some say that these surgeries are purely vain, there is more evidence to support the opposite. Cosmetic surgery directly influences mental health in a positive way, making individuals feel more comfortable in their skin, helping them fit in socially and treating physical pain, proving that there is more to plastic surgery than appearances. As society as a whole grows more glacial and judgmental and has more dogmatic opinions, it is valuable to remember not to judge a book by its cover, even if that ‘book’ is controversial, like cosmetic surgery.