Judged by appearances: Mental cost of living in a filtered world

The more we compare, the more we disconnect from our own path

- By Anita Sharma

IN today’s world, we are surrounded by carefully curated images of beauty, success, happiness, and achievement. With just a few clicks, we scroll past seemingly perfect lives. And often, without even realising it, we begin to judge ourselves and others based on these illusions.

We have built a society where people are seen, judged, and sometimes dismissed based on surface-level impressions. We forget that the images we see online are often edited, filtered, and selectively chosen. In fact, many people don’t even look like their social media selves. And yet, we still compare ourselves to those images as if they were real. What you wear, the way you look, where you're seen, or even in a tagged photo have all become ways of defining a person’s value. These moments shape how people perceive you, often more than who you really are. We live in a world where one scroll through social media can make us feel like everyone else is doing better, living bigger, and smiling wider. But behind every perfect post lies an invisible pressure, not just to keep up, but to perform happiness. To look like we are always winning, even when we are not.