do u think people with body dysmorphia are actually more in touch with reality than the rest of us? it's just they don't deal with the reality quite as well. Or are they just seeing something that really isn't there?
2006-11-04 09:39:13 · 5 answers · asked by pseudoname 3 in Health ➔ Mental Health
People with Body Dysmorphic Behaviour (BDD) "are extremely critical of their physique or self image, despite the fact there may be no noticeable disfigurement or defect." They think they see something in their physical makeup that really is not there.
This is a mental health disorder that is related to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) where a person may repeatedly check themselves in a mirror, or avoid mirrors altogether.
2006-11-04 10:14:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have dysmorphia. I think it is basically just a part of my obsessive compulsive disorder. I find I can cope with my dysmorphia just fine as long as I do not think about my body and I do not spend too long in front of mirrors. I lost some weight a few years ago and I my attitude towards my body improved a bit after that point.
I think my dysmorphia is not anything to do with how in touch with reality I am. I can see what is there and I do not like it at all and if I dwell upon it I start to go a bit crazy so I just don't dwell on it if possible.
2006-11-04 11:31:25 · answer #2 · answered by monkeymanelvis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Le Asp's answer is good, but I'd add that there are degrees, and not everyone with body dysmorphia has BDD. MOST people deal with a certain amount of body dysmorphia, at least in their early adulthood. It is just getting stuck in a view of your body from when you were a child. As a hypnotherapist, I see lots of very slim people (mostly women) who are convinced they are fat, muscular men who think they are skinny, etc. In almost all cases, it was the result of something they were told as children, or something that was true in childhood or earlier in life, but isn't any longer.
Affirmations looking in the mirror are the most effective non-professional way to deal with it, I believe.
2006-11-04 11:28:42 · answer #3 · answered by Mark S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used to think I was too hideous to leave the house. I'd get "stuck" in the mirror for hours. Took a lot of counseling and good friends to convince me I was normal-looking. I thought I was disfigured from Neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder I have. But my case is mild. I thought everyone could see my fibromas (small, benign tumors that grow on the nerves), but they are tiny and are mostly covered by my clothes. I still am unhappy with the way I look, but I no longer have BDO, and I don't think about the NF at all anymore.
2006-11-04 10:31:49 · answer #4 · answered by Holly 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They have an illness just like any other. Such as anorexia, depression, alcoholism, or drug addiction.
2006-11-04 09:42:40 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋