A psychological profile of women selected for augmentation mammaplasty

Augmentation mammaplasty (AM) is a cosmetic surgical procedure increasingly being sought by women preoccupied with the size of their breasts. There is a divergence of opinion as to the reasons for and the morbidity associated with this. The present study attempts to clarify the reasons for requests for AM and to determine the presence of psychopathology in patients selected for this procedure compared with hospital controls. It was found that these patients generally experienced low self-esteem, depression, self-consciousness and anxiety, and had a poor body-image and psychosexual problems. AM was often sought to alleviate marital, psychosexual and interpersonal problems.