Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health condition in which you can't stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance — a flaw that appears minor or can't be seen by others. But you may feel so embarrassed, ashamed and anxious that you may avoid many social situations.
When you have body dysmorphic disorder, you intensely focus on your appearance and body image, repeatedly checking the mirror, grooming or seeking reassurance, sometimes for many hours each day. Your perceived flaw and the repetitive behaviors cause you significant distress and impact your ability to function in your daily life.
Treatment of body dysmorphic disorder may include cognitive behavioral therapy and medication.
Symptoms
Signs and symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder include:
Being extremely preoccupied with a perceived flaw in appearance that to others can't be seen or appears minor
Strong belief that you have a defect in your appearance that makes you ugly or deformed
Belief that others take special notice of your appearance in a negative way or mock you
Engaging in behaviors aimed at fixing or hiding the perceived flaw that are difficult to resist or control, such as frequently checking the mirror, grooming or skin picking
Attempting to hide perceived flaws with styling, makeup or clothes
Constantly comparing your appearance with others
Frequently seeking reassurance about your appearance from others
Having perfectionist tendencies
Seeking cosmetic procedures with little satisfaction
Avoiding social situations
Preoccupation with your appearance and excessive thoughts and repetitive behaviors can be unwanted, difficult to control and so time-consuming that they can cause major distress or problems in your social life, work, school or other areas of functioning.
You may excessively focus over one or more parts of your body. The bodily feature that you focus on may change over time. The most common features people tend to fixate about include:
Face, such as nose, complexion, wrinkles, acne and other blemishes
Hair, such as appearance, thinning and baldness
Skin and vein appearance
Breast size
Muscle size and tone
Genitalia
A preoccupation with your body build being too small or not muscular enough (muscle dysmorphia) occurs almost exclusively in males.
Insight about body dysmorphic disorder varies. You may recognize that your beliefs about your perceived flaws may be excessive or not be true, or think that they probably are true, or be absolutely convinced that they're true. The more convinced you are of your beliefs, the more distress and disruption you may experience in your life.
Risk factors
Body dysmorphic disorder typically starts in the early teenage years and it affects both males and females.
Certain factors seem to increase the risk of developing or triggering body dysmorphic disorder, including:
Having blood relatives with body dysmorphic disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder
Negative life experiences, such as childhood teasing, neglect or abuse
Certain personality traits, such as perfectionism
Societal pressure or expectations of beauty
Having another mental health condition, such as anxiety or depression
Complications
Complications that may be caused by or associated with body dysmorphic disorder include, for example:
Low self-esteem
Social isolation
Major depression or other mood disorders
Suicidal thoughts or behavior
Anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder (social phobia)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Eating disorders
Substance misuse
Health problems from behaviors such as skin picking
Physical pain or risk of disfigurement due to repeated surgical interventions
Prevention
There's no known way to prevent body dysmorphic disorder. However, because body dysmorphic disorder often starts in the early teenage years, identifying the disorder early and starting treatment may be of some benefit.
Long-term maintenance treatment also may help prevent a relapse of body dysmorphic disorder symptoms.
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