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Emotional Changes: Depression After Plastic Surgery

Surgery—any kind of surgery—is an emotional event. Many times patients experience times of sadness or anxiety during recovery after surgery. This happened to me, and depression after surgery is not uncommon.

You may feel sad and depressed after your breast augmentation. This sadness may be very surprising, since it comes at a time when you expect to be happy about your new body. But depression after plastic surgery happens. We start to second guess ourselves about our decisions and wonder if we ever should have had the surgery in the first place. We begin to think we are ugly and that the bruising and swelling will never go away. If these thoughts go through your head, you are not alone. In fact, you're quite normal!

Typical Reasons for Depression After Surgery

Feelings of sadness, anxiety, or depression after surgery can occur for many reasons. It can be caused by the aftereffects of anesthesia, which seems to bring out our sensitive sides and our anxiety. It can also be due to medications, postsurgical traumatic stress syndrome,
constipation from the medications (it's true!), and a general feeling that your life is in disarray. Interruptions in your sleeping pattern and being limited in your activities doesn't make things any better. And, oh yeah, you are in at least some pain. No wonder you're feeling down!

As I mentioned, pain relievers and other medications can cause constipation and other temporary digestive problems that can make you feel bloated and even cause you abdominal pain. Some surgeons suggest a mild stool softener like Colace or even natural remedies such as eating daikon (Japanese radish) and high-fiber foods after you are finished with your medications. This helps get everything in working order again and also helps flush out the pipes.

Drinking plenty of water most certainly helps and I cannot stress this enough. Drink 8 glasses of water a day!

Print out our Postoperative Emotions Reminder List. Knowing what to expect can help you with your emotional recovery.

That "Let Down" Feeling of Plastic Surgery Depression

There are several psychological reasons you are feeling depressed and down after surgery. In the days before your breast augmentation, you were running on adrenaline, getting yourself and your household ready. You were expecting something that you have anticipated. You were emotionally and mentally excited and you had that adrenaline rush.

Then, you had the surgery. There you are, believing everything is going to be wonderful, and that as soon as your bandages or support garments come off, your problems are over and you will have a perfect pair of boobs. Reality hits, big time. The bandaging comes off and where are your pretty breasts? What you have is funny looking. Your breasts are bruised, swollen, and uncomfortable. You these two HUGE boulders that are either square or pointy and they don't exactly look like what you wanted. Instead of instant wonderfulness and beauty, you have to wait for swelling and bruising to disappear—and that will take weeks! The long slog of recovery starts to get you down.

And remember this factor: you felt fine as you walked into the hospital or surgery center. A few hours later, you felt groggy from anesthesia, tired, and sore as all get out. You went from feeling perfectly well to feeling like maybe a truck hit you. Even though you knew this was going to happen, knowing it and experiencing it are two different things. For all these reasons, a period of depression after plastic surgery is quite normal.

Patients question their decision to have cosmetic surgery very often in the days right afterwards. As the healing occurs, this self-doubt usually disappears. If you feel depressed, understanding that this is a normal part of healing may help you to cope with your emotion.

Prepare yourself for the emotional changes after you get breast implants. You can even write what to expect down so you can read it afterwards, when you are feeling blue. Print out our list of postoperative emotions. Try to keep things in perspective and prepare your mind. Reading this again will also remind you that you knew this was going to happen. You're not crazy, you're just going through a low. It should subside.

You can also discuss your feelings on our Breast Augmentation Support Forum, where you can chat with women who have been there. I actually find it extraordinarily helpful to talk to real patients about these sad feelings.

Your feelings of depression should subside as you heal. However, if they don’t and you continue to feel down and depressed, speak with your surgeon. In rare cases, the normally short period of depression after plastic surgery can lead to a more serious bout of depression. You might need a referral for a therapist. Don’t suffer. Get help.