Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, I was familiar with Zoom meetings. At my previous company, I was working completely remotely, so when my current job became remote in March 2020, I had already adjusted the angle of my computer camera so that the little square in which I was reflected looked the best. I knew how to adjust the lights and turn on all the lights in the room.
But as Zoom becomes more than just work meetings, it's the way we attend happy hour drinking parties, Thanksgiving dinners, and even loved ones' funerals, and the nasty feeling of staring in your own face can make you feel uncomfortable. can no longer be ignored.
Ever since I became conscious of how I look, I have had problems with how I interact with my body. When I was a kid, I would check my wrist size under my desk every day and tell myself it wasn't any thicker than yesterday. When I was in college, I would spend hours observing every corner of my body, which had only flaws, and then turned the mirror upside down against the wall in disgust.
After years of therapy, those things went away. But as he stared into his face on Zoom for hours a day, he also started hearing demonic whispers in his head. I found myself missing jokes at happy hour on Saturday nights and important information at team meetings on Monday mornings. I thought something had to change.
While many are returning to in-person work and social life, my honest guess is that we will never return to a completely Zoom-free world. Many companies have found the convenience of video conferencing. For people with disabilities and illnesses, Zoom should also make their work and social lives more fulfilling. Learning how to face the Zoom screen is not a temporary response, but an essential part of the new normal.
It took me a long time to be able to see my face without mascara. One of the key steps along the way was learning how video conferencing tools can affect how we look and how to adapt rather than avoid them. .
What is a miniseriesGetty Images"Zoom disorder" is a phenomenon that makes you feel extremely anxious about how your face looks when making a video call. It refers to feeling insecure, distracted, or even reluctant to participate in a video call because you care too much about how you look.
If you're like me, you find it painful to be on a video conference, spend too much time grooming yourself, and get distracted by your on-screen appearance during a call, and it's If you thought it was normal, it might be a Zoom disorder.
The term arose from a study conducted in January 2021 by Shadi Cloche, M.D., Master of Public Health (MPH), Department of Dermatology, Mass General Hospital, with the research team.
In the survey of 134 dermatologists, 56.7% said their beauty consultations increased during the pandemic. In a whopping 86% of cases, video conferencing was cited as a reason for receiving beauty services. Additionally, 82.7% of the dermatologists who responded said that increased use of video conferencing made their patients more dissatisfied with their appearance.
Also, in another survey conducted by Advanced Dermatology, America's largest network of medical professionals, 85% of the 1,450 people surveyed said that by looking at their face on a video call, Respondents said they became more self-conscious about their appearance. 78% said they compared their face to a colleague's face during a video conference.
Even though many people have returned to face-to-face work and socializing, this problem still exists. Some of you may be suffering from coronavirus weight gain or feeling nervous about superficial conversations with people you've avoided for months, but that anxiety may even grow the longer you ruminate on it. .
A follow-up survey conducted by Cloche in the summer of 2021 found that 70% of the more than 7,000 participants felt some anxiety about returning to face-to-face life and work.
"One of the big reasons is that people are self-conscious about how they look. In addition, there are higher levels of anxiety among those who spend a lot of time on video conferences and on social media." I was seen
Cloche et al. One is that people who used to spend little time looking at their appearance suddenly started spending hours each day looking at their appearance. And the other is that the front camera actually distorts our image.
By looking straight ahead and at a close distance, the computer camera makes our faces appear flatter, our noses bigger, and our eyes smaller, Cloche explains. In addition, many people may squint to read the text on the screen, and the camera position is often angled below the face, making the jawline look sagging or a double chin. I think I will. So even if we haven't distorted ourselves psychologically yet, the camera does it physically.
Also, from a psychological point of view, seeing yourself during a meeting can give you a unique sense of anxiety, even for people who usually don't care about their appearance. Dr. Jennifer Carter, a psychologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, explains:
“It’s like having a conversation with the other person holding a mirror in front of their face. It can be said that it is overcapacity.”
Westend61Getty ImagesZoom disorder is a condition rather than a diagnosable mental illness, despite its similarities to body dysmorphic disorder It seems to be close to what you described. "People with body dysmorphic disorder tend to check in the mirror over and over again," says Hilary Winegarden, M.D., a body dysmorphic disorder specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
``The behavior of staring at something all day is something that can happen outside of body dysmorphic disorder. On the other hand, it can lead us to focus on a specific part, such as a 'flaw' on our face."
Zoom disorder is also different from "Snapchat Syndrome", which suffers from the gap between the appearance processed on SNS and the original appearance. People with Snapchat syndrome are said to be obsessed with how close they are to manipulated images, even resorting to plastic surgery to achieve looks that would not have been possible without manipulation.
But the unique thing about Zoom is that it distorts your image without you even realizing it, and forces you to see yourself with others. "Zoom has become a great way to compare, with your face next to someone else's," Winegarden said.
"Remote life and remote work may not go away anytime soon," Cloche points out.
"We want to work on practical solutions to find the balance between how we interact with technology in the healthiest way."
If you feel that your Zoom disorder is interfering with your work or social life, you can go to therapy like I did, or you can try some techniques from experts. do.
Finally, Carter recommends adjusting your Zoom settings if the screen showing your face is in the way. , to minimize.
Also try suggesting that everyone in the meeting turn off their cameras so they don't have to see themselves, or turn video calls into phone chats. While these methods won't solve the root cause of your mental anguish, they should at least help you on the spot.
And remember, if you're feeling "Zoom tired," so are others. Video conferencing is expected to continue in the future, so I think it would be a good idea to be kind to each other and adapt accordingly.
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