Author: Sana Rehman
Body Dysmorphic Disorder Definition
Body dimorphic
disorder is a serious mental health condition, in which a person experiences
extreme dissatisfaction with their outer appearance. The dissatisfaction
towards personal flaws isn’t often reality or evidence-based.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptoms
Extreme preoccupation
with perceived flaws
A strong belief that
one’s have a defect and it will make them look ugly or deformed
Unnecessary comparison
Recurrent Mirror
Checking
Tireless efforts to
fix one’s flaw
Body Dysmorphic Disorder Definition in DSM-V
Besides the above
definition and symptoms, the DSM V recommends a person's social, personal, and
occupational functioning also deteriorates during this disorder.
Body Dysmorphic
Celebrities
Many media celebrities have been diagnosed with BDD such as Andy Warhol, Franz Kafka, Salviya Plath, Shirley Manson, Kim Karadashian, Rober Pattinson, Illeana D’Cruz, Hayden panettiere, and Mickel Jackson. Apart from this many celebrities were having Body dysmorphic symptoms as a result they preferred plastic surgeries. Ayesha Takiya, Vani Kapoor, Aishwariya Rai, Shruti Hassan, Sara Ali, Priyanka Chopra are the examples of celebrities with plastic surgeries.
The trend of Plastic surgery has prevailed in Pakistani culture
as many Pakistani actors and actresses have gone through the process.
Sadia Imam, Mehwish Hayat, Fawad Khan, Hadiqa Kiyani, Fiza Ali, Amna Haq, Sara
Loren, Nadia Hussain, Sadaf kanwal and Sidrah Batool have undergone plastic
surgery. It shows that the dissatisfaction with facial feature and body are
becoming more trendy with time. As the ratio of body dysmorphic symptoms or
body, dimorphic disorders are very high, therefore there is a need to
understand the causes and treatment of BDD.
Body Dysmorphic
Disorder Causes
Body Dysmorphic and
Socioeconomic Status. BDD is interlinked with socio-economic status. The person
who belongs to high socio-economic status is more vulnerable towards BDD. The
people with high socioeconomic status spend more money on beauty products
compared to people with low socioeconomic status.
Body Dysmorphic and
Family System. According to the literature family system also plays a
significant role in developing body dysmorphic disorder. The people who live in
an individual family system found to be least prone to developing BDD compared
to the people who live in a nuclear family system.
Body Dysmorphic and
Gender. Females found to be more sensitive for BDD and spend a considerable
amount of time on remedies to enhance their beauty.
Body Dysmorphic and
Literacy. Literacy is also another predictor of BDD as the literature suggested
that literate people focus more on their physical appearance compared to rural
people.
Body Dysmorphic and
Occupation. Occupations are also very important in developing BDD as media
actors found to be very sensitive for their outer look. The dissatisfaction
with their facial and body traits found to be very common among them. Plastic
surgeries ratio among celebrities have been seen very persistence since last
few decades
Body Dysmorphic and
Stress. Does BBD beget stress or stress begets BDD? It is a very complicated
question and research indicates that in certain situations stress leads to BDD
disorder. As unrealistic beauty standards cause stress and stress further leads
to BDD. While BDD itself a disorder in which a person experiences extreme
stress and dissatisfaction with his/her appearance.
Body Dysmorphic and
Depression. The person wit BD experience depression. The dual diagnoses of BDD
and depression are very common among people.
Body Dysmorphic and
Anxiety. anxiety and BDD are highly correlated as researches are enriched with
the evidenced-based studies in which anxiety has been found both an antecedent
and consequence of BDD.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder Diagnosis
Diagnosis of Body
Dysmorphic disorder can be made by considering the following points.
- A psychological or clinical
evaluation that investigates risk factors, thoughts, behavior, and
feelings related to a negative self-image.
- Family, social, personal and
medical history
- Symptoms list from Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual, Published by American Psychiatric Association
Body Dysmorphic Literature
The literature for the
empirical studies depicts the connection between Body Dysmorphic weight-related
studies. The most common BDD is overweight issues, as people report
dissatisfaction with their weight and often develop BDD. Another wide study
issue of BDD is Death. Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Death have been studied
widely in multiple countries and the ratio of suicide due to BD symptoms found
to be higher in multiple countries.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder Treatment
Body Dysmorphic
Disorder and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. CBT found to very effective for the
treatment of BDD. Cognitive behavior therapy deals with irrational o faulty
cognitions. The dissatisfaction with the personal body or appearance is
irrational thinking. Many people found to be vulnerable to suicide depression
and other mental health issues due to dissatisfaction with their bodies. Their
irrational thoughts towards beauty standards can be changed through CBT. The A-B-C
cycle of thoughts feelings and behavior is mandatory to understand for
developing change.
Body Dimorphic
Disorder and Behavior Therapy. Sometimes unhealthy behavior such as excessive
movies watching and overeating leads to obesity or underweight issues. Through
behavior therapy, healthy habits can be learned. According to behavior therapy,
healthy behavior can be learned through modeling, rewards, and punishment.
Body Dimorphic
Disorder and Medication. Apart from cognitive and behavior therapies, medications
are very important to treat BDD. The most effective and well-known medications
for BDD are Paroxetine, sertraline, fluoxetine, and citalopram.