What is it?
Body dysmorphic disorder is “A mental illness involving obsessive focus on a perceived flaw in appearance”. Body dysmorphic disorder is a psychological disorder not a reality. Here let me give you an example. Marilyn Monroe incorrectly diagnosed herself as obese when she was very far from that. Body dysmorphia can revolve around any part of your body and can lead people to looking in the mirror for 4 hours and more everyday. A lot of people can also be embarrassed and anxious, that others will notice the flaw that they’re embarrassed or fixated by. Body dysmorphia can lead to becoming suicidal or severely depressed.
How do people develop it?
Although there haven't been many studies on how people develop it, here are a few reasons that people could have developed it. Number 1, childhood abuse and bullying could lead to low self esteem which could have caused picking out imperfections in your body which would have later led to body dysmorphia . Next, family history of body dysmorphia or eating disorders could lead to it. Lastly mental health disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, ocd, and other mental health disorders could lead to bdd .
What are the symptoms?
-Avoiding mirrors in general or looking at mirrors excessively
-Thinking people are making fun of how you look
-Being extremely self conscious about a particular body part
-Comparing appearances with others often
-Avoiding social activities in fear of gaining weight or someone noticing a certain body part
-Trying to hide “imperfections”
-Being extremely preoccupied with a flaw
Misconceptions
Let's uncover all the very VERY wrong misconceptions. Number 1, only teenagers or women have body dysmorphia. At ANY age you can have body dysmorphia and ANY sex can have body dysmorphia. Body dysmorphia is a mental health disorder and just like any other mental health disorder both sexes can have it. Next, Body dysmorphia is an eating disorder, it can be related to food but body dysmorphia can also be something like a facial feature which has nothing to do with food. Number 3 , people with bdd are just fishing for compliments, this is a very popular misconception but what a lot of people don’t understand is people with bdd genuinely don’t see what you do. Lastly, poor body image and bdd are the same thing, this is another very popular misconception. Body dysmorphia usually occupies the majority of someone’s mind throughout the day and also is more about intrusive thoughts/imperfections than specfically body image which would be just about what someone looks like.
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