Eating Disorders: What is a Body Dysmorphic Disorder?

There are number of eating disorders. Of course, those who deal with anorexia nervosa/bulimia nervosa are worried roughly their body’s dimensions, shape, and/or weight. However, many people also experience body dysmorphic disorder.

Eating Disorders and Body Dysmorphic Disorder

The prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder, which causes people to become excessively fixating on their appearance and perceiving flaws, is up to 2.4% in the general population. It may occur in those who have eating disorders, but it is a quite separate problem.

BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER SYMPTOMS

Body dysmorphic disorder patients are distracting or obsess with one or more apparent faults in their bodily representation. This interest or obsession frequently concentrates on single or additional physical characteristics or parts of the body, such as the nose, hair, or skin. Anybody portion or location, though, may give rise to worries.

The diagnostic standards for a body dysmorphic disorder diagnosis are in the DSM-5

The DSM-5 does not list BDD as an eating disorder. As oppose to that, it is classifying as “Obsessive-Compulsive and Relating Disorders.” The following diagnostic standards are in the DSM-5:

• Obsession with one or more alleged physical flaws that are not visible to others and are not disfiguring.
• The individual who is in pain has eventually engaging in recurrent behaviors or ideas in reaction to their worries. This could involve behaviors like constantly assessing their appearance in the mirror or plucking at their skin.
• This preoccupation disrupts a person’s social, professional, or other aspects of life, causing distress.
• It is not more accurate to characterize this fixation as a sign of an eating disorder (even though some persons may be detect with both).

MUSCLE DYSMORPHIA 

A subtype of BDD is muscular dysmorphia, which is an obsession with the thought that your muscles are too tiny.

ASSOCIATED WITH EATING DISORDERS

There are some similarities between BDD and eating disorders, but there are also significant differences between the two. Some parallels are as follows:

• Both body dysmorphic disorder and eating illnesses, such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, can root extreme worry about one’s dimensions, form, mass, or external look.
• Body dysmorphic disorder sufferers may uniformly get fixating on body portions alike the waist, hips, and/or thighs, which are mutual fixations in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
• Analogous signs like body examination (such as routine weighing or mirror “checks”) and overexertion may also be present.

Up to 12% of patients with body dysmorphic disorder are also thinking to have anorexia nervosa / bulimia nervosa, according to research.

It is crucial to remember that not all people with body dysmorphic disorder also have eating disorders. Someone with body dysmorphic disorder may only concentrate on certain body areas (such as their nose’s shape). That is distinct from concentrating on weight.

THERAPY ALTERNATIVES

The virtuous update is that treatment for BDDis effective. The best course of treatment combines medicine, such as antidepressants, with cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of psychotherapy.

Treatment might become more challenging when there are several diagnoses present (as is the case for anyone who has either body dysmorphic disorder as well as an eating problem). Eating problems are also treat with cognitive behavioral therapy.

If you have both disorders, you should check to see whether your therapist is knowledgeable about them both and can develop a dealing strategy specifically for you.

Additionally, your psychiatrist may provide you with medication as a form of treatment. It’s crucial to keep in mind that before you find the dosage or drug that works best for you, you might need to experiment. Never deviate from your doctor’s prescription instructions, and feel free to ask any concerns you may have concerning them.

It is crucial to note that a lot of persons who suffer from body dysmorphic disorder opt for surgical treatments like cosmetic procedures or hair implants to “correct” their seeming imperfections. There doesn’t proof that this aids in the condition’s therapy and it can even style things badly.

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