Mental Health: Body Dysmorphic Disorder - Deepstash
The Halloween Collection

Learn more about mentalhealth with this collection

Navigating and enjoying the thrill of horror and scare experiences

Historical knowledge of Halloween and its origins

Understanding and appreciating Halloween traditions worldwide

The Halloween Collection

Discover 64 similar ideas in

It takes just

10 mins to read

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)

BDD is a mental disorder where a person is preoccupied with an imagined or minor physical defect that others often cannot see.

As a result, people with BDD see themselves as "ugly" and often avoid social exposure. The preoccupation with the defect often leads to ritualistic behaviours, such as always looking in a mirror or picking at the skin. The person with BDD eventually becomes overly obsessed with the defect so that their social, work, and home functioning suffers.

82

797 reads

Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Common areas of concern

The most common areas of concern include:

  • Skin imperfections: Wrinkles, scars, acne, and blemishes.
  • Hair: Including head or body hair or absence of hair.
  • Facial features: It often involves the nose but might involve the shape and size of any feature.
  • Bodyweight: Sufferers may obsess about their weight or muscle tone.

Other areas of concern include the size of the penis, muscles, breasts, thighs, buttocks, and body odours.

70

443 reads

Warning signs of Body Dysmorphic Disorder

  • Engaging in repetitive behaviours, such as looking in a mirror, picking at the skin, trying to cover up the perceived defect.
  • Continually asking for reassurance that the defect is not too noticeable.
  • Repeatedly measuring or touching the perceived defect.
  • Experiencing problems at school or work, or in relationships, due to the inability to stop focusing on the perceived defect.
  • Feeling self-conscious and not wanting to go out in public.
  • Repeatedly consulting medical specialists to find ways to improve their appearance.

73

300 reads

Causes of Body Dysmorphic Disorder

One theory suggests BDD involves a problem with the size or functioning of specific brain areas. BDD often occurs in people with other mental disorders, such as major depression and anxiety.

Other factors that trigger BDD include:

  • Experience of traumatic events or emotional conflict in childhood.
  • Low self-esteem.
  • Parents and others who were critical of the person's appearance.
  • Pressure from peers and society that equates physical appearance with beauty and value.

70

252 reads

Treatment of Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Many BDD cases go unrecognised because people with the disorder often feel embarrassed and reluctant to speak about their concerns.

Treatment for BDD includes a combination of the following therapies:

  • Psychotherapy. Individual counselling focuses on changing the thinking and behaviour of a person with BDD.
  • Medication. Certain antidepressant medications called SSRIs are showing promise, as are antipsychotic medicines.
  • Group and/or family therapy.

67

272 reads

Body Dysmorphic Disorder: The outlook is promising

The outlook is promising for people with BDD who receive and follow treatment. Those with a strong support team tend to do better in the long run.

People with BDD are at high risk for developing major depression, and the distress associated with the disorder puts people with BDD at high risk for suicide. Treatment is advisable as soon as a person begins to have symptoms. Encouraging healthy and realistic attitudes about body image is helpful, as well as a supportive environment.

66

302 reads

CURATED BY

cha_cha

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."- Hippocrates

stash-superman-illustration

Explore the World’s

Best Ideas

200,000+ ideas on pretty much any topic. Created by the smartest people around & well-organized so you can explore at will.

An Idea for Everything

Explore the biggest library of insights. And we've infused it with powerful filtering tools so you can easily find what you need.

Knowledge Library

Powerful Saving & Organizational Tools

Save ideas for later reading, for personalized stashes, or for remembering it later.

# Personal Growth

Take Your Ideas

Anywhere

Organize your ideas & listen on the go. And with Pro, there are no limits.

Listen on the go

Just press play and we take care of the words.

Never worry about spotty connections

No Internet access? No problem. Within the mobile app, all your ideas are available, even when offline.

Get Organized with Stashes

Ideas for your next work project? Quotes that inspire you? Put them in the right place so you never lose them.

Join

2 Million Stashers

4.8

5,740 Reviews

App Store

4.7

72,690 Reviews

Google Play

Sean Green

Great interesting short snippets of informative articles. Highly recommended to anyone who loves information and lacks patience.

Ashley Anthony

This app is LOADED with RELEVANT, HELPFUL, AND EDUCATIONAL material. It is creatively intellectual, yet minimal enough to not overstimulate and create a learning block. I am exceptionally impressed with this app!

Shankul Varada

Best app ever! You heard it right. This app has helped me get back on my quest to get things done while equipping myself with knowledge everyday.

samz905

Don’t look further if you love learning new things. A refreshing concept that provides quick ideas for busy thought leaders.

Jamyson Haug

Great for quick bits of information and interesting ideas around whatever topics you are interested in. Visually, it looks great as well.

Ghazala Begum

Even five minutes a day will improve your thinking. I've come across new ideas and learnt to improve existing ways to become more motivated, confident and happier.

Laetitia Berton

I have only been using it for a few days now, but I have found answers to questions I had never consciously formulated, or to problems I face everyday at work or at home. I wish I had found this earlier, highly recommended!

Giovanna Scalzone

Brilliant. It feels fresh and encouraging. So many interesting pieces of information that are just enough to absorb and apply. So happy I found this.

Read & Learn

20x Faster

without
deepstash

with
deepstash

with

deepstash

Access to 200,000+ ideas

Access to the mobile app

Unlimited idea saving & library

Unlimited history

Unlimited listening to ideas

Downloading & offline access

Personalized recommendations

Supercharge your mind with one idea per day

Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.

Email

I agree to receive email updates