I am 43. I have had BDD ever since I was young but was not diagnosed until about 3 yrs. ago. The more I try to fight it and get help ..the more I seem to fail and sink deeper into depression. Every day is a struggle to function..this disorder consumes my life. I am without health insurance right now so can not see a therapist or get medication. I am a single Mom desperately seeking help and support. I would love thoughts and advice and to share with someone who has the same issues.
hey shelly, sorry for sorry for your struggles.
how doe sit all affect you on a daily basis?
how do you try to fight it?
maybe if we know a bit more detail we can relate better and share our experiences or what may help.
love
maedi
I would love to know more about this, I believe I too suffer from this....please continue to share ♥
Thank you both so much for responding. Here is a little bit of info. on it.
What is body dysmorphic disorder?
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a type of somatoform disorder, a mental illness in which a person has symptoms of a medical illness, but the symptoms cannot be fully explained by an actual physical disorder. People with BDD are preoccupied with an imagined physical defect or a minor defect that others often cannot see. People with this disorder see themselves as "ugly" and often avoid social exposure to others or turn to plastic surgery to try to improve their appearance.
BDD shares some features with eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. BDD is similar to eating disorders in that both involve a concern with body image. However, a person with an eating disorder worries about weight and the shape of the entire body, while a person with BDD is concerned about a specific body part. BDD is a long-term (chronic) disorder that affects men and women equally. It usually begins during the teen years or early adulthood.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that traps people in endless cycles of thoughts and behaviors. People with OCD have recurring and distressing thoughts, fears or images (obsessions) that they cannot control. The anxiety (nervousness) produced by these thoughts leads to an urgent need to perform certain rituals or routines (compulsions). Similarly, with BDD, a person’s preoccupation with the defect often leads to ritualistic behaviors, such as constantly looking in a mirror or picking at the skin. The person with BDD eventually becomes so obsessed with the defect that his or her social, work, and home functioning suffers.
The most common areas of concern for people with BDD include:
* Skin imperfections — These include wrinkles, scars, acne, and blemishes.
* Hair — This might include head or body hair or absence of hair.
* Facial features — Very often this involves the nose, but it also might involve the shape and size of any feature.
Other areas of concern include the size of the penis, muscles, breasts, thighs, buttocks, and the presence of certain body odors.
What are the symptoms of BDD?
People with BDD have distorted views of themselves, which can lead to harmful or socially avoidant behaviors or repeated attempts to correct perceived problems through surgery. Some of the warning signs that a person may have BDD include the following:
* Engaging in repetitive and time-consuming behaviors, such as looking in a mirror, picking at the skin, and trying to hide or cover up the defect
* Constantly asking for reassurance that the defect is not visible or too obvious
* Repeatedly measuring or touching the defect
* Experiencing problems at work or school, or in relationships due to the inability to stop focusing about the defect
* Feeling self-conscious and not wanting to go out in public, or feeling anxious when around other people
* Repeatedly consulting with medical specialists, such as plastic surgeons or dermatologists, to find ways to improve his or her appearance
Hi Shelly,
I am sorry about your troubles. I am new here and I used to suffer quite a bit from what you describe (a little bit is still there, but it has significantly improved). I used to think I was ugly, obsessing over it and swearing that I heard people talk about my ugliness. It really wore me out, so I feel for you. And thank you for all of the information you have provided regarding BDD.
Confuzzled90--Thank you and how did you overcome your disorder if I may ask ? :)
thanks for clearing this up, shelly :-)
i am very obsessed too with how i look on a daily basis, probably the same for anyone with an ED. and i pick my skin too which now left me scars allover my body. this again makes me hate myself even more. simply a dreadful cycle.
so yes, how can you get out of this?
i know it's partly down to reviewing your image of yourself logically and learning to accept yourself the way you are with all possible imperfections.
but exactly how do you do that??
xxx
Hi Shelly. I was able to pretty much overcome it by repeatedly telling myself that how I viewed my body was not true, and I trained myself to stop negative "comments" about me in my thoughts. A lot of my problem came from how negative I was about myself. It took about a year and the change was gradual, but it has certainly helped. The bad thoughts still pop up sometimes (mainly when I'm depressed) but I'm able to handle and dispose of them more efficiently now.
Thank you for sharing that info, it was rather helpful. I suffer from both an ED and OCD, I'm pretty positive I have BDD aswell.....
Hi Shelly...
Thanks for educating be on BDD... something I did not know.
I notice your asking for thoughts and advice... I'll run with it.
Ok come with the realization that most people do not have the perfect body and if they do it is short term. We all change...fact! Beauty is only skin deep, but the real beauty is the person within the loving, careing person that you are, your true heart, the people you surround and that can never be taken away...your beautiful to them
in your own way and that's what important. The Key word here is "ACCEPTANCE" it is what it is...I'm not perfect nor are they...for they have similiar thoughts, problems that relate to yours...is just fact. There are somethings we can not control of our external bodies but we can control the beauty within. Hold on to that thought! Best Wishes...
The mind is a very powerful tool, sometimes when people suggest something to be mind over matter, its just simply not that easy. I look in the mirror and see someone who is obese and huge, 300lbs. That's what I see and truly believe I look like. Reality is I'm thin, almost underweight, emaciated looking at times but still my reality is of when I was obese. I understand what you're going through and if u ever wanna talk PM me, I'm here for you xoxo
i wish we could just look at ourselves with the eyes of a loved one! instead we gotta keep giving those positive affirmations!
YOU ARE ALL TRUELY BEAUTIFUL!!!
If only, right Maedi? One day we can maybe trust our own eyes again...one day ♥
Hi Shelly, and all,
Thanks for the info on BBD--I'm learning so much from reading people's posts and I only just joined yesterday. I find so many things I relate to and am buoyed by the community of support.
I wanted to share that my profession is doing custom sewing for people and that I have seen and dressed many different bodies (99% ladies, btw). So, the thing is, there is no normal. There is no perfect. There is no right and there is no wrong. Even the ladies who I personally pegged as having the perfect figure felt there was something about them that needed to be changed/covered/disguised.
I also read a statistic that since only one woman in 40,000 has our currently idealized, model-thin (and airbrushed, painted and professionally photographed, I might add) body, it's no wonder that "research shows that virtually all women are ashamed of their bodies today."
I don't know if that's true, and I don't know what form of BBD you suffer from, but I think that it's important to push some of that outward and give it back to the culture and media that insinuate it on us. Nobody tells me what I'm supposed to be but me, and I have to believe that.
Part of what helps me look, and thus feel, the way I want is sewing my own clothing. This way, I control the fit, the style, and the elements that deal with my unique figure--proportion, silhouette, pattern, color. Maybe this is something that will help you, too.