Abnormal visual information processing in BDD may contribute to distorted perception of appearance; this may not be limited to their own faces, but to others' faces as well.
Summary: Researchers have determined that the brains of people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a psychiatric condition that causes them, wrongly, to believe they appear disfigured and ugly, have abnormalities in processing visual input when it comes to examining their own face.
When viewing themselves in photographs, patients with BDD underutilize parts of the brain used in seeing the face's overall shape and size, he said. "If you just see the pieces of your face, and not seeing how they fit into the whole, then it's going to look distorted," he said.
The more one agonises over themselves in the mirror, the more likely they are to develop a distorted view of how they actually look. This, in turn, is likely to cause the individual to spend yet more time in front of the mirror, causing their self-perceptions to become even more distorted.
Individuals with BDD have abnormal brain activation patterns when viewing their own face, showing hypoactivity in primary and secondary visual processing regions for LSF faces and hyperactivity in frontostriatal systems for NSF faces.
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.
Previous studies have revealed that individuals with BDD have an attentional bias for flaws in their own faces and in unfamiliar faces 58, and it follows that viewing unfamiliar faces might trigger BDD participants to think of their own face if they perceive flaws in both.
BDD patients typically perceive defects of their own appearance, often a facial feature, which are not noticeable or appear minor to others. They also frequently check appearance features of others to compare to their own (Phillips, 2005).
Body dysmorphia is a mental health condition that causes people to have an obsessive fixation on minor or imagined flaws in their appearance. It causes someone to have an unrealistic perception of the way they look. This is a more intense version of insecurity.
To put in simpler terms, a person with gender dysphoria is not mentally ill; they are dissatisfied with the gender assigned at their birth. A person with body dysmorphia has a disorder in which they perceive their body or face as “ugly,” “fat,” or otherwise unattractive despite medical or personal reassurances.
Every time we look at ourselves in the mirror, we tend to focus on a different part of our face, such our nose, eyes, lips, etc., and miss the big picture. On the other hand, when we look at a photograph, we take everything in at once and build an overall impression of the performance.
Chances are, it's just an optical illusion caused by the way the camera lens is framing your face. To avoid this problem, try to take pictures from different angles and avoid scrunching up your face when you're not posing.
The camera lens is not the human eye
That results in all sorts of weird idiosyncrasies. It's called lens distortion and it can render your nose, eyes, hips, head, chest, thighs and all the rest of it marginally bigger, smaller, wider or narrower than they really are.
For example, mirror gazing is one of the hallmark features of BDD, with some individuals spending multiple hours checking their appearance in the mirror each day, and other persons avoiding mirrors because of the distress they feel and the time they waste while looking at their image (Phillips, 1986).
The two main types of body dysmorphia include non-delusional dysmorphia, where a person exaggerates a minor flaw, or delusional body dysmorphia, where a person has hallucinations of an imagined defect. In either case, the imagined flaws are typically inexistent or mostly unnoticeable by others.
Individuals with BDD can receive an additional diagnosis of delusional disorder—somatic type, if their preoccupation with an imagined defect in appearance is held with a delusional intensity. Approximately 50% of patients with BDD meet the criteria in DSM-IV for a delusional disorder, somatic type.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is more than being fixated on one part of your image; the preoccupation on seemingly small aspects of your appearance can be crippling. The insecurity over flaws, visible or not, can lead to serious emotional distress, depression, anxiety, and shame.
It may be that you are going through a mental health issue, which could be the reason behind your body image issues. Psychologically, mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders can affect the way we feel about ourselves.
You never want to chalk symptoms of BDD up to vanity or insecurity, or imply that it's a phase they'll get over. “When we hear such phrases, we feel discouraged from talking about BDD,” Esther, 20, who was diagnosed with BDD at 18, tells SELF.
Many individuals with BDD have a difficult time and may even become upset by compliments. They may interpret compliments as a joke, overanalyze the compliment or believe that “they're just saying it because they are my friend/mom”.
Don't counter with compliments like “you're so skinny,” “I'd kill to look like you,” or “but you're so gorgeous!” ― this will only minimize their concerns and demean how they feel, and that's the opposite of what you want to be doing.
There are two subtypes of BDD: Muscle Dysmorphia and BDD by Proxy. Both of these subtypes appear to respond to the same basic treatment strategies as BDD (cognitive behavior therapy or CBT and medications). However, the CBT therapist in particular needs to adjust the treatment so that it has the right focus.
Summary. Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental illness characterised by constant worrying over a perceived or slight defect in appearance. Repetitive behaviours are performed in response to these concerns about appearance. BDD usually starts in the teenage years, when concern over physical appearance is common.