We live in a society in which one of the attributes that is most valued is physical appearance. Many women (and also some men) are not able to accept the appearance of the first wrinkles, and try to hide their age.
With the passage of time, age leaves its mark and unhappiness becomes increasingly greater for them, since they cannot bear to see how their physical appearance changes. After 40, they leave behind that characteristic beauty of their youth and frustration and anxiety appear.
In our article “Peter Pan and Wendy Syndrome: Trapped in Neverland” we talk about two disorders that have the origin of their name in two characters from disney. In this article, we are going to expose the characteristics of the Snow White Syndrome.
Snow White Syndrome refers to the distortion of the image that a person has of themselves with respect to their youth, beauty or qualities characteristic of this stage of life, and the envy that the person feels towards younger people. and that he considers them more attractive.
Betsy Cohen, an American psychotherapist, coined the term in one of her books. Although this disorder is not part of the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), psychologists are paying more and more attention to its symptoms, which usually appear in many women when they are over 40 years old.
Although this syndrome is more common in women, some cases have also been recorded in men.
Snow White Syndrome: insecurity and envy
The name of this syndrome is inspired by the Queen Grimhilde Snow White’s evil stepmother. She cannot stand that there is another person prettier than her, and she feels great envy of the young and beautiful Snow White. The evil and vain stepmother asks Humbert, a hunter, to end the life of her stepdaughter and bring him her heart.
Since Humbert refuses to kill her, Queen Grimhilde disguises herself as an old woman and goes in search of Snow White, to kill her herself with a poisoned apple. The envy that Queen Grimahalde feels makes her not only want to kill an enemy, but her goal is to end the life of a family member.
The person who suffers from this disorder, like the Disney character, feel insecure about your own image and she is afraid of old age, of not being looked at as before, and she does not accept the physical consequences of the passing of the years. This insecurity causes her to feel envy towards young and attractive people and she can emotionally attack (in some cases it can be physically), with constant humiliation, the person who is the object of her envy.
Many of these cases occur between mother and daughter but it can also occur between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, between sisters, between friends and at work. The great frustration felt by the person affected by Snow White Syndrome negatively affects their well-being and causes depression and anxiety.
Some consequences of low tolerance to aging make you a person obsessed with your physical image, and you may end up resorting to cosmetic surgery to continue looking young. Despite his age, She wants to remain a “twenty-something” and dresses as if she were still in her early 20s. Furthermore, she tries to have many relationships with men to feel young, beautiful and desired.
Symptoms of Snow White Syndrome
Below we present the most common symptoms that people who suffer from Snow White Syndrome manifest:
How to overcome Snow White Syndrome?
The irrational beliefs Due to the social pressure these people feel can cause these women (and some men) to need psychological help. To get out of this situation, It is necessary to work on self-knowledge, self-acceptance and improving self-concept to reduce anxious symptoms. Changing dysfunctional beliefs is necessary to regain well-being and reduce frustration.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness or Emotional Intelligence can be effective forms of therapy for the treatment of this syndrome.
