While everyone can find some fault with their body and physical appearance, people who suffer from Body Dysmorphic Disorder go far beyond recognizing they are not perfect. Their perceived imperfections bother BDD patients so much that they constantly worry about them. Though people with BDD can go to extreme lengths to feel better about their bodies, not even radical moves like plastic surgery help them see the bright side.
What Is Body Dysmorphic Disorder?
Do you hate your body so much that you think about its flaws nearly all the time? Body Dysmorphic Disorder — BDD for short — is a body-image disorder in which people are constantly preoccupied by real but minor or completely imagined imperfections in their bodies. People who have BDD might have a problem with any one body part, or with a combination of different features. They may hate their hair, skin, stomach, nose, eyes, ears, bust, teeth, or anything else to the extent that it stops them from enjoying life.
Since there is no single definition of perfection, and nobody lives up to any definition of perfection, it's safe to say that everyone has features they're not especially fond of. You might realize you need to lose some weight, or even dream of liposuction. You might try to cover up your big ears with your hair, hate your bare legs, or be unhappy with your wrinkles.
People with BDD are impacted far beyond disliking one or more body parts; their perceived flaws bother them so much they can't live normally. Their negative thoughts about their body can give them constant stress, make them depressed, and severely limit their social interactions. In extreme cases, Body Dysmorphic Disorder can push someone to seek repeated plastic surgery procedures — but no surgery will ever make a BDD patient happy with his or her body.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder affects men and women in equal numbers, and about one percent of the US population has it. BDD usually rears its ugly (excuse the pun) head in adolescence.
We are not currently sure what causes the life-altering disorder, but it's thought that genetic factors play a role, along with life experience, personality, and even serotonin levels.
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Do you think you or someone you know could have BDD? Here is a brief overview of the possible symptoms:
- Patients suffer from negative thoughts about their body for multiple hours a day, or even the entire day.
- They might avoid social situations as much as possible.
- People with BDD can go to extreme lengths to hide the body parts that make them feel bad, including wearing heavy makeup or clothes, hats or wigs.
- They may also shun mirrors or, alternatively, look in the mirror constantly to obsess about their problem areas.
- Even more troubling parts of BDD include nervous habits such as skin picking or hair pulling, making mental or verbal comparisons between their own bodies and those of others, and having plastic surgery procedures.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Diagnosis And Treatment
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) emphasizes that BDD is characterized by a preoccupation with a trivial or imagined defect in appearance. This means that people who are preoccupied with significant problems such as birth defects, burns, or amputated limbs do not qualify for a BDD diagnosis.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder can go hand in hand with other psychological disorders, including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Social Anxiety Disorder, eating disorders and depression. Patients who constantly obsess over the negative aspects of their body to the point that it ruins their lives should talk about their worries with a mental health professional, or see their family doctor for a referral.
In order to gain an accurate diagnosis, it is essential that you describe your issues in as much detail as possible. Failing to do this could mean you are misdiagnosed and cannot, therefore, receive the treatment you need to overcome your BDD.
When you first see a mental health professional about your symptoms, you can expect to be questioned about your exact symptoms and your medical and mental health history in detail. If a BDD diagnosis is then made, you have several treatment options.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT is a treatment that focuses on identifying and correcting irrational thought patterns. This is very much a "thinking therapy" as opposed to a "feeling therapy". In order for CBT to be effective at treating Body Dysmorphic Disorder, patients will want to ensure that the therapist they are going to be working with has experience with BDD patients.
A therapist employing CBT will help you analyze the root of your negative feelings about your body, and will work on making you see that your detrimental self-imagine has no basis in reality. BDD patients tend to assume that other people see them in the same negative way they themselves do, and therapy will help correct that assumption.
A treatment knows as "exposure and response prevention" is also often used in BDD patients who show signs of OCD. This therapy works on limiting the rituals a BDD sufferer might go through before they appear in public, to reduce anxiety. Instead of these rituals, the patient will learn healthy coping mechanisms.
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Medication
Medication is another treatment option for BDD patients, and it is used in combination with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) class of antidepressants has been found to be tremendously helpful for BDD patients. SSRIs are used to reduce the obsessive and compulsive symptoms associated with Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
SSRIs prescribed for BDD include Prozac, Paxil, Celexa, Lexapro, Zoloft, Anafranil and Luvox. These medications are particularly helpful as a supportive treatment, since they help patients move away from the obsessive thoughts and actions that come with BDD as they cognitively work through the reasons behind their disorder, and come to terms with the fact that their negative self-thoughts are not based in reality.
- Photo courtesy of trung hieu by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/suvival198/8182640282/
- Photo courtesy of Very Quiet by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/veryveryquiet/4374568000/
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