genetics — some people with body dysmorphic disorder also have mental illness in their family. Body dysmorphic disorder is more common in those who have a close relative with obsessive-compulsive disorder. having an anxiety disorder or personality disorder. personality traits, such as perfectionism.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), or body dysmorphia, is a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance. These flaws are often unnoticeable to others. People of any age can have BDD, but it's most common in teenagers and young adults. It affects both men and women.
BDD is most likely to start in your teens or early adult years. People usually develop BDD around 12 or 13 years old. Two-thirds of people with BDD develop it before age 18. However, BDD can also start in adulthood.
Patients with BDD believe they look ugly or deformed (thinking, for example, that they have a large and 'repulsive' nose, or severely scarred skin), when in reality they look normal. As a result of their appearance concerns, they may stop working and socializing, become housebound, and even commit suicide (1, 2).
It usually begins in your adolescence or teenage years. Experts think that about one of every 100 people has BDD. Men and women are equally affected.
Up to 2.4% of Americans are thought to have BDD. The condition affects almost as many men as women and generally first surfaces in adolescence.
Risk factors
Having blood relatives with body dysmorphic disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Negative life experiences, such as childhood teasing, neglect or abuse. Certain personality traits, such as perfectionism. Societal pressure or expectations of beauty.
Since people affected by BDD are often attractive objectively, it is not surprising that they may be misperceived as being vain and frequently are not properly diagnosed in a timely manner, or ever, in part because their plight is easy to minimize or mock.
Surveys have put BDD at about 2% of the population. It is more common in adolescents and young people. Body Dysmorphic Disorder usually develops in adolescence, a time when people are generally most sensitive about their appearance. However, many sufferers leave it for 15 years before seeking appropriate help.
In our survey of young people aged 13–19, 35% said their body image causes them to 'often' or 'always' worry. While body image concerns affect both boys and girls, research suggests that girls are more likely to be dissatisfied with their appearance and their weight than boys (24,25).
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.
Both men and women – about 40% of people with BDD are men, and about 60% are women. People of almost any age (from age 4-5 up into old age): BDD most often begins around age 12 or 13.
People with BDD most often are concerned with “defects” on their face and head6. They constantly check their appearance in mirrors, and often scrutinize others people's faces. They tend to focus primarily on details, usually on their face, and are not able to see the “big picture” that overall they look normal.
Symptoms of BDD typically begin during adolescence, most commonly by 12-13 years old. [1] If a child or teen obsesses about their appearance, is overly critical of perceived minor flaws and experiences severe distress as a result, they might be showing signs of body dysmorphic disorder.
A traumatizing event in adulthood may also lead to BDD. Reverse BDD: In many ways, reverse body dysmorphia is the opposite of BDD. Individuals with this condition may believe they are thin while living in a larger body. Therefore, they may routinely buy clothing several sizes too small without trying it on.
She added that many people with BDD are very attractive people, so they have a distorted body image, and the defects that they perceive in their appearance are actually nonexistent or only slight and nothing others would notice.
One problem is that many people who actually have BDD don't realize that they do, because they think they really do look ugly, abnormal, or flawed, even though they actually don't in the eyes of others.
Also known as body dysmorphia, body dysmorphic disorder is a relatively common mental health condition. Currently, it affects between 1.7 and 2.4 percent of the population, or 1 in every 50 people.
Some areas of the brain look and work differently in people with body dysmorphic disorder. The disorder isn't due to anything a parent or child did or said. It's not anyone's fault.
Accept their feelings
Friends and family can help a lot by accepting the feelings of the person with BDD and recognising that they find it difficult to cope with them. While you may not understand their concerns about their appearance, it's important to recognise that these feelings are very real to them.
Facial dysmorphia is a mental health condition where the sufferer has a warped perception of the appearance of their face. This commonly includes distorted views on how their nose, skin and teeth look.
While social media doesn't cause BDD, it can amplify the condition. You might constantly take and post selfies, then constantly scrutinize and criticize them.
It is believed that BDD can develop due to a combination of genetic predisposition (nature) and environmental factors such as traumatic life experiences (nurture).