And all you want is sleep/But all you get it pills
Join Date: Aug 2007
I am currently:
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
I wanted to know if anyone else has be diagnosed with this. Any treatment plans? Right now I doubt there is little to be done for it when it comes to me. Therapy, I guess would be my best bet. Doesn't seem to be much information about it, and I've only seen one book on it.
So what's up with this? I just know that it's affected my life for years and I never understood my obsession or that what I was seeing wasn't quite real. I still do the mirror avoidance, and I do have a hard time looking at myself naked, but I'm a far cry from what I was a year and a half ago.
therapy would be a good idea. they will work on why you feel so bad about yourself etc and help you learn to see the beauty again.
sorry that u have been disgnosed with this...it seems truly awful!
xxx
And all you want is sleep/But all you get it pills
Join Date: Aug 2007
I am currently:
Well, it's a bit hard to not feel bad about myself, because what I see has been very real for so long. Therapy is helping for the moment, to at least help me realize that what I see is not necessarily reality. But apparently the whole thing that seperates BDD from having very low self esteem is that [in my personal experience] I see these things. It's like your body lies. I won't bring up my personal problem, but a lot of people have BDD involving certain parts of their body.
For example, you have BDD. You think your nose is large. You are horribly self concious about it, to the point of not leaving the house, getting rid of mirrors, etc. It's not that you just don't like your nose and are self-conscious about it. It's that people with BDD can physically feel that it is large by touch, and when they look in the mirror, it is large there too even when it's a normal shaped and sized nose. It's hard to be told that you aren't what you perceive yourself to be by someone, because you think they're lying, trying to make you feel better. I don't see how it can end sometimes.
Personally, these emotions are constantly there, but the intensity varies. I do see the flaws in the mirror, I can feel the change in my body by touch. Waking up one day and looking/feeling a certain way and then waking up the next feeling different drives me insane. BDD for me has kinda been like self-esteem issues brought on by psychosis. But I don't know what came first...the chicken or the egg [the psychosis or the self-esteem issues]. The book I read doesn't seem to know either. Ideally, one would think medication would work with the psychosis, but adding another med currently doesn't seem like a wise idea [I'm on three right now].
I do hope therapy works though. BDD seems to be a fairly new disorder, or just going under a different name. I'm not sure. I guess it seems a bit narcissistic, I know, but it's like..I can't help it. My mind's so wrapped around the way my body looks, how people think I'm hideous [because I think I'm hideous, and I can see it]. It causes panic, my body has to be turned a certain way, I can't sit down a certain way. It affects my relationship horribly [I envy other's looks vocally, which bothers him. I feel insecure about intimacy even in the smallest form like kissing. I want to be more attractive, because I think my fiance will want/love me more].
God, I know I'm ranting. It's just a wish so hard I can find someone who is experiencing this. I want to break down sometimes, because I can't seem to find any place I can go [other than my doctors] to find a sort of friendship, sharing ideas and experiences, things that have worked and haven't. I have heard though that there are quite a few people with eating disorders who experience this disorder, but it was only through the grapevine [and I guess it's kinda why I related so well with girls and guys with ED's. Body image stuff].
I understand what you are feeling. I have had BDD for most of my adult life, although I did not know it until recently. I have not sought treatment but, b/c I have been too scared to talk about it.
It is just so embarrassing. My body image problem is about the size of my "package". I avoid being naked, even in front of my wife. Changing rooms at the gym, forget about it!
I am totally obsessed. I compare to others whenever I can. What I see in the mirror is not accurate, but I just cannot help it or change it.
has this thread died its been a while since any one posted . but bob i suffer from it and i know how it feels. i know how you both feel . comparing myself . i avoid as much as i can going out . i know what you mean by the whole naked thing NO WAY but mines differnt reasons . its tuff . ive been struggling for about 2 years now . its hard to work out what to do :(
anyways ive pmed you both my msn please add me im going through the same thing . and i could do with the support just as much i know you do thanks
I wanted to know if anyone else has be diagnosed with this. Any treatment plans? Right now I doubt there is little to be done for it when it comes to me. Therapy, I guess would be my best bet. Doesn't seem to be much information about it, and I've only seen one book on it.
Hey!
I was diagnosed with BDD about... four or five years ago? I have seen several counsellors and psychologists and they all said the same thing. I refused to believe it for ages. I have been obsessed with my appearance for as long as I can remember. It was not until early 2008 that I said to my boyfriend that maybe I had suffered from BDD all along.. and he agreed. It was there I thought maybe I should do something about it.
I had not done anything, but this year I moved back in with my parents and asked for their help in my recovery. They graciously accepted, as they really wanted to see me better. We spent weeks e-mailing and researching BDD "specialists" however the only ones we could find were inter-state. It seemed like fate when a lovely psychologist who takes a special interest in BDD contacted us and requested to speak with me. My first appointment is scheduled for the 28th February.
Other than that, mum ordered a book for me called "The BDD Workbook: Overcome Body Dysmorphic Disorder and End Body Image Obsessions". Here is a link to it's amazon page - http://www.amazon.com/BDD-Workbook-O.../dp/1572242930
This is full of facts and research about BDD, other people's experiences, the difference between eating disorders, OCD, depression and BDD... etc.
It even includes work sheets with questionarres and activities that so far have been interesting, if not helpful.
Anyway I know I am ranting, but PLEASE feel free to contact me at any time to talk about this. I know it is a horrible way to feel about yourself, and I suffered in silence for years. The treatment is the hardest, as so little is tried, tested or known about conquering such disorders.
I myself have had two major plastic surgeries and one minor, suffered from an eating disorder and been diagnosed with anxiety and depression - all things that go hand in hand with BDD. None of them really helped... the surgery made things slightly easier, however the job was botched and I am suffering greatly through recovery and an attempt to deal with the results.
Stay strong and determined to beat it, and as I said, I'll offer any advice I can.
^^ that book is fantastic.im diagnosed with BDD,i bought that very book,and it has lots of helpful inforation in it,and ways to try and change how you look and see things about how your bdd "is" for you,if that makes any sense?
another good book is "the broken mirror",that has a lot of info in a bout bdd,how it appears,how common it is,how it can be treated.
the two books together i found really good,i cut down on certain bdd behaviour with some of the info they have in the books.
xx
Its great that so many 'BDD' sufferers are confident enough to have pictures of themselves for profile pictures.
I have BDD and am totally debilitated by it, I cant go outside or have meaningful relationships. I find it strange when people maintain that they have BDD when they have boyfriends and social lives etc. Don't these things prove to you that you are not ugly?
Obviously there is a huge variation in the severity of this condition. I wish you all the best and hope we can learn from each other.
