Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)

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Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), formerly known as dysmorphophobia, is characterized by a preoccupation of one or more perceived defects and or flaws in one’s physical appearance. These defects and or flaws are either not observable to others or appear slightly to other’s. This disorder is also characterized by repetitive behaviors and mental acts as a response to their beliefs on their personal appearance. These behaviors can include but are not limited to mirror checking, excessive grooming, skin picking, and comparing ones appearance to others. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM–5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), those with this disorder have concerns on their physical appearance ranging from “looking unattractive, not right, to looking hideous or like a monster”. The most common concerns those with this disorder have are obsessions about their skin, hair, or nose; however it is not limited to these specifications of the body. Any part of the body can be of concern to an individual such as eyes, teeth, breasts, legs, lips, etc. These preoccupations are time consuming, intrusive, unwanted, and are generally difficult for the individual to control or even resist.
Age of onset for BDD is typically most common around the ages of twelve to thirteen, with the mean age of sixteen and seventeen, and a median age of onset at fifteen years old as stated in the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This disorder is a chronic lifetime disorder affecting children and adolescents over the world. According to the DSM-5, both males and females are equally affected by this disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).). However, it appears that the only difference between...

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