Post by Admin on Jun 25, 2023 21:53:41 GMT
Body dysmorphic disorder is common, yet widely misunderstood
psyche.co/ideas/body-dysmorphic-disorder-is-common-yet-widely-misunderstood
What strikes someone with BDD as a glaring physical problem actually calls for a psychological solution
‘My bulbous nose makes me look like a monster,’ Blair said, staring into her lap as she sat in front of me.
Blair did not, in fact, look like a monster. Her nose was well proportioned for her face. She had been told by countless people before that there was nothing wrong with her nose and that it suited her well, but she struggled to believe them. Blair (whose name has been changed here for anonymity) often felt like these people were just trying to be polite, or that they had to compliment her because they were her friends or family.
Each of us faces pressures with regard to our physical appearance; by one estimate, nearly three-quarters of people wish that they could change the way they look. Body dissatisfaction is so prevalent that researchers often refer to it as ‘normative discontent’ – it’s more common to dislike your body in some way than to like your body as it is. So was Blair just dissatisfied with her nose? Or was there something more going on?
When Blair looked in the mirror, her eyes were immediately drawn to her nose. She would constantly fiddle with it to feel its proportions or to see if she could flatten the bulb on the end. She examined herself from different angles and under various lights, to see what she looked like from other people’s perspectives. These mirror-checking sessions left her feeling angry, dismayed and hopeless.
Blair was also afraid that when she left the house, people would stare at her and think to themselves how terrible she looked. Because of these fears, she had pulled out of many social events, missed lectures at university, and even quit jobs, leaving her feeling isolated and alone. The more time she spent at home, the more she noticed herself feeling preoccupied and fantasising about all the ways she could ‘fix’ her nose – and how doing so would make her life so much better.
psyche.co/ideas/body-dysmorphic-disorder-is-common-yet-widely-misunderstood
What strikes someone with BDD as a glaring physical problem actually calls for a psychological solution
‘My bulbous nose makes me look like a monster,’ Blair said, staring into her lap as she sat in front of me.
Blair did not, in fact, look like a monster. Her nose was well proportioned for her face. She had been told by countless people before that there was nothing wrong with her nose and that it suited her well, but she struggled to believe them. Blair (whose name has been changed here for anonymity) often felt like these people were just trying to be polite, or that they had to compliment her because they were her friends or family.
Each of us faces pressures with regard to our physical appearance; by one estimate, nearly three-quarters of people wish that they could change the way they look. Body dissatisfaction is so prevalent that researchers often refer to it as ‘normative discontent’ – it’s more common to dislike your body in some way than to like your body as it is. So was Blair just dissatisfied with her nose? Or was there something more going on?
When Blair looked in the mirror, her eyes were immediately drawn to her nose. She would constantly fiddle with it to feel its proportions or to see if she could flatten the bulb on the end. She examined herself from different angles and under various lights, to see what she looked like from other people’s perspectives. These mirror-checking sessions left her feeling angry, dismayed and hopeless.
Blair was also afraid that when she left the house, people would stare at her and think to themselves how terrible she looked. Because of these fears, she had pulled out of many social events, missed lectures at university, and even quit jobs, leaving her feeling isolated and alone. The more time she spent at home, the more she noticed herself feeling preoccupied and fantasising about all the ways she could ‘fix’ her nose – and how doing so would make her life so much better.