What is body dysmorphic disorder?

The psychiatric disorder known as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), also referred to as dysmorphophobia, is characterized by a preoccupation with a physical flaw, which can be imaginary, or exaggerated.

People with BDD do not see what they truly look like when they look in a mirror. Instead, they see major defects and flaws, despite assurances that others offer them about their appearance.

People with BDD can spend hours in front of a mirror each day, obsessing about what they look like. When they look in a mirror, they see a monster looking back. They camouflage their features to hide their flaws. If they are feeling particularly revolting, they skip classes or work, or may remain within their homes to avoid being seen. Some may resort to cosmetic surgery, or even suicide, to escape their self-destructive thoughts.

This disorder often occurs along with other psychiatric disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, obsessive-compulsive disorder and clinical depression. The presence of these disorders, along with other factors, often cause BDD to misdiagnosed, or undiagnosed.

Body dysmorphic disorder is a type of chronic mental illness in which you can't stop thinking about a flaw with your appearance — a flaw that is either minor or imagined.‬ When you have body dysmorphic disorder, you intensely obsess over your appearance and body image, often for many hours a day. You may seek out numerous cosmetic procedures to try to "fix" your perceived flaws, but never will be satisfied. Body dysmorphic disorder is also known as dysmorphophobia, the fear of having a deformity.

Parents should be aware that children as young as elementary school will complain that they are ugly. Classmates use this term liberally, so it is very hard to bring a young child around to see that ugly is a very strong term and reserved for the wicked witch of the north. If children are already dissatisfied with their body at a young age, it is important to get them involved in many activities that will boost their sense of self, self esteem, and feeling of power over themselves and the universe. The more out of control children feel, the more likely they are to turn on their body as the reason. Encourage, support, make important all those activities that do not require special looks to succeed. It isn't that looks are not important, they are. But, this should not be the focus for a child. Eventually that feeling of inferiority will seep into other areas of their life.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a type of anxiety disorder. Those affected focus on physical flaws that other people may not notice. We don't yet know what causes BDD, but like other psychiatric disorders, it probably results from a combination of inborn biology and environmental factors.

A brain imaging study has provided a new clue. The study found that the visual processing centers in the brains of patients with BDD function differently from those of controls.

Investigators at the University of California, Los Angeles, asked 17 patients with BDD and 16 healthy controls to watch a series of images while undergoing functional MRI (fMRI). One set of images were photographs of participants' own faces, while another set consisted of photographs of a familiar actor. Both sets of images included unaltered photographs and photographs in which the resolution was increased or decreased to either highlight or blur defects such as blemishes that appeared in both sets of faces.

When viewing their own faces, the participants with BDD were more likely than controls to report feeling disgusted or repulsed. The fMRI also revealed alterations in brain activity in two areas: the visual processing center in the orbitofrontal cortex, and the frontostriatal system, which affects emotional reactions and behaviors. Severity of symptoms was correlated with patterns of brain activity in both regions.

The findings suggest that people with BDD are processing visual information differently in their brains, and this may help to explain why their perceptions differ from those of other people.