Back to list of Related Disorders.
Go to the next Related Disorder.What BDD is and how it relates to OCD.
- Distress of Imagined Ugliness.
- Areas of perceived defect are: Body Odor/2.5%, Sexual Body Parts/5.1%, Skin/10.2%, Arms/Legs/12.8%, General Body/15.4% and Head/Face/54%.
- Preoccupation with imagined defect in appearance or the clearly exaggerated worrying about a very small "defect".
- Much like with OCD, the person engages in Compulsive Rituals.
- May go as far as to involve surgical procedures to "correct" the defect.
- This disorder is surrounded by many of it's own misunderstandings such as assuming people suffering from BDD are simply being vain.
The person suffering from it will get "obsessed" by certain body- parts. We are not talking about not being pleased about the size or shape of your nose or thighs, these people will find themselves repulsive and intensely ugly. They seem unable to objectively look at themselves and will ask for comfort from others which will not help, much like happens with OCD. Like with Eating Disorders like Anorexia Nervosa, will you see that the general public sees these persons as being vain. But both these problems are not about superficiality, these are truly devastating disorders. - BDD and OCD react to the same treatment, being some type of Behavior Therapy.
- A person is only diagnosed if it causes much distress and the person spends at least 1 hour a day obsessing about her/his perceived flaw.
| Useful links concerning BDD.: |
- What If Someone You Know Has Body Dysmorphic Disorder?.
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Body Image Program at Butler Hospital.
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder by Carol E. Watkins, M.D. "Body Dysmorphic Disorder, (BDD) is listed in the DSM-IV under somatization disorders, but clinically, it seems to have similarities to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)."
- Do You Have a Body Image Problem. "Jane is an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, tall, thin, and stately. She believes she is breathtakingly ugly. Tormented by what she sees as her huge nose, crooked lip, big jaw, fat buttocks, and tiny breasts, she has not left her house in six years."
- In Pursuit of Perfection: A Primary Care Physician's Guide to Body Dysmorphic Disorder from the American Family Physician.
- Body Image and Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
