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Body Dysmorphic Disorder - Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptom, Cause, Treatment
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a distressing and impairing preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect in appearance, is an "OCD-spectrum disorder" that appears to be relatively common. Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a mental disorder, which involves a disturbed body image. People with BDD have a distorted or exaggerated view of how they look and are obsessed with actual physical characteristics or perceived flaws, such as a certain facial feature or imperfections of the skin.
Symptoms of Body Dysmorphic Disorder
The signs and symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder include:
- Frequently comparing the flaw in appearance with that of others
- Repeatedly checking the appearance of the specific body part in mirrors or other reflective surfaces
- Refusing to have pictures taken
- Wearing excessive clothing, makeup and hats to camouflage the perceived flaw
- Using hands or posture to hide the imagined defect
- Frequently touching the perceived flaw
- Picking at one's skin
- Frequently measuring the imagined or exaggerated defect
- Elaborate grooming rituals
- Excessively researching about the perceived defective body part
- Seeking surgery or other medical treatment despite personal opinions of others and recommendations of doctors that the flaw is minimal or doesn't exist or that treatment is unnecessary
- Seeking reassurance about the perceived defect or trying to convince others that it's abnormal or excessive
- Avoiding social situations in which the perceived flaw might be noticed
- Feeling anxious and self-conscious around others (social phobia) because of the imagined defect
Causes of Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Cases of body dysmorphic disorder can range from relatively mild to very severe.Any body part can be the focus of concern (most often, the skin, hair, and nose), and most patients engage in compulsive behaviors, such as mirror checking, camouflaging, excessive grooming, and skin picking.. People with mild cases are bothered and distressed, and their obsessions cause some degree of impairment.
- The patient is preoccupied with an imagined defect of appearance or is excessively concerned about a slight physical anomaly.
- This preoccupation causes clinically important distress or impairs work, social or personal functioning.
- Another mental disorder (such as Anorexia Nervosa ) does not better explain the preoccupation.
Treatment of Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Typically the psychodynamic approach to therapy does not seem to be effective in battling BDD while in some patients it may even be countereffective. It is at times difficult to get an individual with BDD into psychiatric treatment because he or she may insist that the disorder has a physical origin. Family behavioral treatment can be useful, especially if the affected individual is an adolescent.
BDD tends to be chronic; as of current information, it does not subside through time and in most patients often becoming worse as the symptoms and concerns of the suffered diversify and social contacts are further deteriorated. Exposure usually involves having the sufferer gradually learn to face and confront the situations they fear the most, such as going into public places or exposing their embarrassing body part to others' scrutiny without hiding or camouflaging it.
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