Italians are increasingly obsessed with their appearance and at the same time they are ever keener for time on the psychologist's couch, according to a new survey. The average Italian family now spends up to 350 euros a month on 'beauty'. Men especially are buying many more face and body creams, hunting out diet products and going for cosmetic surgery.
In 2004, the last year for which figures are available, Italians spent 4 million euros on body lotions, face creams, hair products and make-up, said research institute Eurispes in its Italy 2006 report. The average Italian woman spends up to 75 euros each
month on creams for cellulite and wrinkles. The men sometimes spend even more.
Some 600,000 Italians undergo some form of cosmetic surgery every year, Eurispes said. Although the male component is growing fast, the bulk of those going to a surgeon to enhance their appeal are still women.
Half of the women patients go for anti-cellulite operations and a quarter for breast alterations. For the men, the request is usually a hair transplant or liposuction to harden thighs and flatten the tummy. Without suggesting any link to the signs of vanity, Eurispes also supplied statistics that it said revealed "a country on the edge of a nervous breakdown".
Spending on psychological support is now almost 5 billion euros a year, it said, reporting that about 2.7 million Italians sought this sort of help in 2004.
The resulting picture of Italy, Eurispes concluded, was one of "a highly stressed society, afflicted by various forms of psychological malaise."
