Adolescence and the obsession with beauty. The culture of perfecting the body: between demand and reality

The demand for beauty and bodily perfection presents an increasing challenge for today's adolescents. New developments in media and technology play an important role in how today's adolescents evaluate themselves. A survey of 730 young people showed that one third of the adolescents were dissatisfied with their physical appearance and experienced social pressure from their parents and peers concerning their appearance. With reference to case material from two patients, we discuss the psychodynamics of this issue, including the development of a low self-esteem, social retreat and a basic sense of insufficiency. In order to develop a stable identity, these adolescents seem in urgent need of a personal narrative in which they can make their own decisions and find their own opinions in a self-assertive stance that counters the pressure from social media and social norms.