We are surrounded, as never before, by images of perfection. Scroll through any social media feed and you will find an endless parade of flawless faces, spotless homes, exotic holidays and apparently effortless success. On the surface, there is nothing wrong with sharing life’s happy moments. Yet a growing number of psychologists believe that this constant exposure to curated perfection is quietly damaging our mental health, particularly among the young.

The problem lies in comparison. Human beings have always compared themselves to those around them, but in the past that meant comparing our lives to those of our neighbours and friends – people whose struggles we could also see. Today, we compare our ordinary, messy reality with the carefully edited highlights of thousands of strangers. Inevitably, our own lives seem to fall short. What we forget is that we are comparing our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s carefully chosen show.

This culture of perfection encourages a particular kind of anxiety. Many young people now feel under pressure not merely to do well, but to appear effortlessly perfect at all times – to have the right body, the right friends, the right experiences, all beautifully documented. Failure, or even ordinariness, can feel like a kind of public shame. Psychologists have noted rising levels of anxiety and dissatisfaction that appear closely linked to these pressures.

What can be done? Awareness itself helps: simply remembering that social media shows a filtered version of reality can loosen its grip on us. Some people choose to limit their time online or to follow accounts that portray life more honestly. Increasingly, too, there is a small but welcome movement towards authenticity, in which people deliberately share their failures and imperfections alongside their successes. Perhaps the healthiest realisation of all is also the simplest: that nobody’s life is as perfect as it looks, and that the pursuit of flawlessness is not only exhausting but impossible.