If you’ve ever looked at yourself in the mirror and didn’t like what you saw, you’re not alone. Everyone has something about themselves they wish they could change, but for some people this can become an obsession that threatens their mental health and overall wellbeing. This obsession with one’s body image can be severe enough to manifest as a mental disorder known as body dysmorphia. In fact, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America estimates that the prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) in the United States is about 2.4% of the population.
Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health condition characterized by an overwhelming fixation on one’s physical appearance and its perceived defects. The perceived flaws that fuel the fixation may be minor or even nonexistent, but they take on exaggerated importance to the person struggling with BDD. Regardless of how accurately the flaw is perceived, the thoughts surrounding it are often pervasive and disruptive to the person’s normal daily life. These thoughts are sometimes so intrusive that it causes the person to expend significant effort to hide or fix the flaw.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a tool published by the American Psychiatric Association, categorizes body dysmorphia as a disorder on the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) spectrum. Other examples of mental illness on this spectrum include eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, repetitive behaviors, and social anxiety disorder. Yet even though body dysmorphia has continued to gain acceptance as a legitimate mental health disorder, it has tended to be overlooked by mental health professionals in the past.
Of course it’s quite normal to feel negative thoughts about yourself or your appearance from time to time, but a person struggling with BDD is nearly constantly preoccupied with whatever they perceive the flaws to be. Low self-esteem, shame, and feelings of embarrassment often lead to social isolation and extreme avoidance of social situations. The thoughts and feelings swirling around these areas of concern may be difficult to control and can severely affect one’s quality of life. For some people it can even lead to suicidal thoughts.
Those with body dysmorphia can have appearance concerns about any part of their body, though it is often related to the skin, hair, nose, stomach, or chest. Though the symptoms of BDD may look different from person to person, there are some standard characteristics that can indicate the problem:
One challenging aspect of body dysmorphic disorder is that it typically develops over many years. What might start as a seemingly harmless dislike about an aspect of the body can fester and grow over time; so at the beginning it may not have seemed like a problem, but years later it has evolved into a deeply ingrained disorder. This can also make the diagnosis and treatment more difficult because the person may not believe they need help or may be ashamed to ask for it. While the condition can’t really be “cured,” there are two main approaches that are typically used in combination with each other:
Body dysmorphic disorder is somewhat rare when considering the whole population, but there is evidence that it is on the rise in some demographic groups. So far it’s still somewhat unclear why the prevalence of this disorder is increasing, but there does seem to be an obvious connection between body composition and self-esteem. Part of the way we know this is because of the simultaneous rise in both obesity and the number of people trying to lose weight.
Weight loss can’t cure body dysmorphia, but it may be part of the path for some people. The truth is, though, that sustainable weight loss is very difficult with standard methods like diet and exercise. But at True You Weight Loss, we are passionate about offering a different approach that has a track record of success. If you’d like to learn more about ESG or any of our other offerings, please contact us to request a consultation and finally find the freedom you’ve been looking for.