Body Dysmorphia Disorder

As with females, body image among males is a prevailing symptom and underlying motivation for the development and continuation of the disorder.

In a generation filled with entertainment and technology, there are many advertisements that exist. Advertisements, such as clothing advertisements, involve lots of touch ups on the model, making what the world sees, a fake reality of what human body look like. For some of the North American population, these advertisements do not affect them; they will look at the body of the model and not think much of it. But for those who suffer from Body Dysmorphic Disorder, this will affect them in a completely different way. Body Dysmorphic Disorder is “a body image disorder characterized by persistent and intrusive preoccupations with an imagined or slight defect in one’s appearance” (ADAA, 2014). The impact that advertisements can have on those suffering from Body Dysmorphic Disorder, can be crucial to their mental health. These individuals will begin to obsess over changing something about themselves that may not even be an imperfection about them. But since a model or someone else looks a certain way and they do not, they will do anything they can to change it, which can be very unhealthy. Those with Body Dysmorphic Disorder will perform different behaviours to attempt at hiding or improving their flaws (ADAA, 2014). Some of those who are suffering may even develop an eating disorder.

The second psychological test that examines BDD is the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Examination (BDDE) created by Rosen & Reiter (1994). This test contains a total of thirty-four items, scored on a Likert-style scale with 0 representing "never (or no)" and 6 corresponding to "everyday (or very important)" (Rosen & Reiter, 1994). It features various domains that include how respondents think others perceive their area of distress (if any), as well as self-consciousness and avoidance due to the area of distress (Rosen & Reiter, 1994). It is not a self-questionnaire format but rather designed as an interview based interaction that is filled out by the clinician (for clinical setting) and/or institution (for certain educational purposes) during an

Body dysmorphia is a disorder that causes someone to obsess over a small or very insignificant flaw on their body that to others is not a problem. For example, a very healthy teenage girl could look in the mirror and see someone unhealthy and turn to anorexia to change her appearance when in reality she is a normal weight. This can lead to eating disorders (such as anorexia) as well as depression and anxiety. It can affect relationships and social events where eating is involved. According to Dr. David Veale of the Priory Hospital in North London, the definition of BDD is “a mental disorder characterized by preoccupation with an imagined defect in one’s appearance… there may be a minor physical abnormality, but the concern is regarded as grossly excessive” (Veale).

Body dysmorphic disorder or BDD is a type pf mental illness in which you can’t stop thinking about a flaw in your appearance. You intensely obsess over your appearance and body image, often for many hours a day. Your perceived flaw causes you significant distress, and your obsession impacts your ability to function in your daily life. You may seek out numerous cosmetic procedures or excessively exercise to try to "fix" your perceived flaw, but you're never satisfied. Body dysmorphic disorder is also known as dysmorphophobia, the fear of having a deformity.

According to recent findings in psychology, patients who had not been satisfied with their previous surgeries, or patients who have a history with depression are less likely to be satisfied with the result of their surgeries. An estimated 7 to 15 percent of plastic surgery patients have body dysmorphic disorder, which is when a

Five million is way too many people that are overly concerned with their weight and their appearance. People with BDD may sit in front of mirror for hours before they feel confident enough to leave their house. BDD makes people lose their social relationships since they do not feel confident enough to approach people.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is extremely effective and has techniques that treat those who suffer from the disorder. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the primary technique used. It uses a method called imaginal exposure, which involves writing short stories about the flaws and obsessions the patient has on their body. Cognitive Restructuring teaches clients to question their negative view on their body. This allows them to rethink whether or not the flaw is actually significant. Those with BDD are taught to non-judgmentally accept the uncomforted feeling of their past situations. That is called Mindfulness-Based CBT. The goal of mindfulness is for individuals to accept their past experiences and think about their thoughts, feelings, and avoidance

Dysmorphia is a disorder related to the human body. It is a mental issue or abnormality in which you can’t quit your thinking about one or more perceived defects and flaws of your body. It is an imperfection that, to others, is either minor or not observable. In any case, you may feel so embarrassed and restless that you may avoid many social circumstances.

Chronic dieting, low self-esteem, depression and, high levels of body dissatisfaction were among the major issues women face when addressing their body image (Gingras, Fitzpatrick, & McCargar, 2004). The severity of body image dissatisfaction have increased to such a dangerous state that it was added to the DSM-IV as a disorder now called body dysmorphic disorder (Suissa, 2008). One of the main reasons for the prevalence of these conditions in women was due to contemporary Western media, which serve as one of the major agent in enforcing an ultra-thin figure as the ideal for female beauty (Saraceni & Russell-Mayhew, 2007). These images and models presented by the media have become the epitome of beauty, pushing women who internalized these images to dangerous extent to attain these norms. According to evidence from previous studies, contemporary Western cultures have influenced women to an acquired normative state of discontent with their bodies, which have become the source of maladaptive eating practices, negative psychological outcomes, and, chronic health conditions associated with eating disorders (Snapp, Hensley-Choate, & Ryu, 2012). The seriousness of these body image conditions among youths and women have also led to congressional actions.

The International OCD Foundation discovered that about 1 in 50 of the general population suffers from body dysmorphic disorder. Body dysmorphic disorder, or body dysmorphia, is a mental health condition where a person spends too much time worrying the imperfections in their appearance. Anyone can have body dysmorphia, but it is most common in teenagers and young adults.

The amount of males that are unsatisfied with their bodies has tripled in the last twenty-five years. According to Helen Fawkner, doctor of philosophy, it has increased from fifteen percent of the male population to forty-five percent. It is an extremely severe problem that most people are not aware of. It can lead to suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and eating disorders, but the majority of people think that males do not have to worry about it as much as females. However, they have the same amount of pressure to have the perfect figure as females, it is just not delineated. Body image and eating disorders are not just female problems, men go through the same issues.

Thought there is no doubt in my mind that all body image disorders certainly have an influence from culture, however with Psychology, there is never a singular cause for any disorder. Culture, traumatic events, brain chemistry, and genetics are all aspects of what causes these disorders. All eating disorders and body dysmorphia/body image disorders ultimately have a link to depression and social anxieties. These types of disorders are the most misunderstood of any kind. Most feel that depression is “being sad”, but that is not the case. Often times depression has no cause and occurs because of a lack of adequate brain chemistry, leaving the sufferer with an emptiness that they seek to avoid through escapist behaviors, like drinking or drug

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is something that has interested me for a quite some time now. It is something that I would love to research one day. When a person has body dysmorphia, they typically focus on one particular body part in which they perceive as having an imperfection/flaw. They become obsessive over it. Usually this obsession of the perceived flaw is over a body part such as the nose, stomach, thighs, skin, etc. Because of this I would like to study the correlation of BDD and Anorexia Nervosa, in terms of which body part the person perceives the flaw to be in. My control group would be people who perceived their flaw to be something about their nose or simply their nose in general. My experimental group would be participants who perceived their flaw to be something about their stomach, or their stomach in general. My hypothesis is that those participants from my experimental group, would have a high correlation with also suffering from Anorexia Nervosa, while the other group would typically not.

Some individuals have “delusions of ugliness or misshapenness” (Bradbury, 301). This is called body dysmorphic disorder. They hold the belief that something is wrong with them despite them not being ugly at all. The patients` lives gets taken over by the need to find the “cure,” to rid them of their self-thought strange looks. Most patients with this disorder find themselves dejected and felt great shame in how they looked. Patients saw how they looked to be “socially unacceptable and as arousing strong adverse reactions in others, which led to social avoidance.” (Bradbury,