2008 Woodie Awards
BDD: Don't let an obsession dictate your life
Kasey Fielding
Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: Lifestyle
Just about everyone has at least one complaint about his or her body: my thighs are fat, my nose is huge, my hair is flat, I have terrible skin. At some point or another, you look in the mirror and find something you're not too crazy about.
But when does it cross the line from a normal habit to a dangerous obsession?
Constant preoccupation with some minor or altogether imagined physical flaw is the main symptom of a condition known as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). People suffering from BDD will often let their obsession dictate their day-to-day lives, preventing them from engaging in social interactions or activities that they once enjoyed.
"It's like someone obsessed with whitening their teeth, who says, 'No, I can't go out, I can't go to the party, my teeth look horrible,' but you look at them and they look fine," said Robyn Kievit, registered dietician and nurse practitioner at Emerson's Center for Health and Wellness. "A person takes the level of preoccupation prominent in eating disorders and applies it to some other body part."
Kievit cites an article from the January 2007 issue of Eating Behaviors, in which 200 BDD patients were surveyed concerning their symptoms. The survey found that the body parts eliciting the most fixations from patients were the skin, hair, nose, stomach, teeth and weight.
According to the Massachusetts General Hospital's Body Dysmorphic Disorder Clinic, a person feeling this intense preoccupation with any part of his or her body may either be obsessive about looking in the mirror or completely avoid it. Kievit noted this problem as being of particular importance to college students.
"It's the time factor," she said. "Everyone that comes in here, whether it is for nurse practitioner visits or nutrition visits, they're so busy [with school and work]. If you spend all of your energy on your obsession instead of doing an assignment or going out with your friends, that's a problem."
According to MGH's Web site, BDD normally begins during adolescence and is equally prevalent in both men and women. BDD is not as widely known as other disorders and is often misdiagnosed.
But when does it cross the line from a normal habit to a dangerous obsession?
Constant preoccupation with some minor or altogether imagined physical flaw is the main symptom of a condition known as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). People suffering from BDD will often let their obsession dictate their day-to-day lives, preventing them from engaging in social interactions or activities that they once enjoyed.
"It's like someone obsessed with whitening their teeth, who says, 'No, I can't go out, I can't go to the party, my teeth look horrible,' but you look at them and they look fine," said Robyn Kievit, registered dietician and nurse practitioner at Emerson's Center for Health and Wellness. "A person takes the level of preoccupation prominent in eating disorders and applies it to some other body part."
Kievit cites an article from the January 2007 issue of Eating Behaviors, in which 200 BDD patients were surveyed concerning their symptoms. The survey found that the body parts eliciting the most fixations from patients were the skin, hair, nose, stomach, teeth and weight.
According to the Massachusetts General Hospital's Body Dysmorphic Disorder Clinic, a person feeling this intense preoccupation with any part of his or her body may either be obsessive about looking in the mirror or completely avoid it. Kievit noted this problem as being of particular importance to college students.
"It's the time factor," she said. "Everyone that comes in here, whether it is for nurse practitioner visits or nutrition visits, they're so busy [with school and work]. If you spend all of your energy on your obsession instead of doing an assignment or going out with your friends, that's a problem."
According to MGH's Web site, BDD normally begins during adolescence and is equally prevalent in both men and women. BDD is not as widely known as other disorders and is often misdiagnosed.
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anne turner
posted 3/29/08 @ 8:20 PM EST
just because someone in public eye gets cosmetic surgery doesnt mean they have or will ever have BDD. BDD has been shown to have a large genetic component and to be correlated with shyness,sensitivity,social anxiety,perfectionism and depession. (Continued…)
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