Body Dysmorphic Disorder Project Paper

No one in this world is perfect; everyone has body flaws that people might not notice. The average person goes through the day without thinking about the body flaws they have, but some people can’t go one second without obsessing over a certain flaw on their body. This is what is known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder or Body Dysmorphia. Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a complex psychological disorder because the disorder itself isn’t necessarily harmful, but can be the start of a plethora of other disorders. It is important to know what exactly Body Dysmorphic Disorder is, and understand the effects and treatment for Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

What is Body Dysmorphic Disorder? Body Dysmorphic Disorder is the obsession of a physical flaw, real or perceived, that is insignificant on one’s self (Kollei 2013). How do you know if someone has Body Dysmorphia? If someone spends hours upon hours worrying about the flaw and spends time looking or touching the flaw then it is considered Body Dysmorphic Disorder (Kollei 2013). For example, a person with Body Dysmorphic Disorder is constantly worried about their abdominal muscles showing or gaining fat around the abdominal area and the person would be feeling their stomach repetitively. Severity of body dysmorphic disorder is determined by how much it affects a person’s daily life and wellbeing. Someone with Body Dysmorphia can be a functional person with some unnecessary stress which is not completely debilitating, but someone with Body Dysmorphia who is anorexic will probably suffer from anemia, hair loss, organ damage, and a bunch of other issues associated with anorexia.

Body Dysmorphic disorder has different effects on an individual depending on the severity and area of obsession. Body Dysmorphia can lead to low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and other issues, but the issues can be much more severe with disorders like anorexia and bulimia. In a case study, a man with Body Dysmorphic Disorder was so bothered and insecure about his nose and how it would affect his life he tried to commit suicide (Jahan’s 2014). It is important to understand that Body Dysmorphia does not just mean someone is insecure about themselves physically, it means someone has a full blown mental disorder that affects their life to the point they can’t ignore their flaw and it affects them day to day basis relentlessly. That man is the case study was driven to the point of suicide because he couldn’t get a handle on his delusion based around a nose flaw which may or may not have been real.

To treat Body Dysmorphic Disorder, first someone needs to seek a psychiatrist and be diagnosed with the disorder. In order to treat the disorder, people are given cognitive behavioral therapy or inference-based therapy (Taillon 2013). These treatments help the patient to deal with the symptoms associated with the disorder, such an anxiety, to hopefully allow the patient to deal with their flaw in a normal manner. For example, if the man from the case study that tried to kill himself was given one of the treatments to help deal with his anxiety and depression, then perhaps he would have been able to accept his nose the way it is and realize eventually it’s not that significant. Cognitive behavior therapy is a step by step treatment that works with patients with the goal of getting the patient to come to terms with his or her disorder, with the hopes that this will help them deal with whatever is ailing them. Inference-based therapy is a newer form of treatment that is meant to find the root of the problem rather than deal with the current effects of the mental disorder. This helps the patient understand where their disorder originated, and like cognitive behavior therapy, come to terms with their mental disorder.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a complex psychology disorder because the disorder itself isn’t necessarily harmful but the disorder can be the start of other disorders. Body Dysmorphic Disorder is the obsession of a physical flaw on one’s self. Body dysmorphia can have the effects of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, anorexia, and bulimia. Treatment of body dysmorphia can be either cognitive behavior therapy or inference-based therapy.

Work Cited
1 Kollei, Ines, et al. “Body Dysmorphic Disorder And Nonweight-Related Body Image Concerns In Individuals With Eating Disorders.” International Journal Of Eating Disorders 46.1 (2013): 52-59. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Oct. 2014. 2 Sachacher, Bhoomika, and Masroor Jahan. “SIS-II Profile Of Patient With Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Case Report.” SIS Journal Of Projective Psychology & Mental Health 21.1 (2014): 59-61. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Oct. 2014. 3.Taillon, Annie, et al. “Inference-Based Therapy For Body Dysmorphic Disorder.” Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy 20.1 (2013): 67-76. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.