Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) treatment
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a common anxiety disorder that causes you to become particularly self-conscious and believe that you have a problem with the appearance of a specific feature of your body. You may become preoccupied with this perceived issue and therefore struggle to think about anything else on a daily basis, with obsessive worries and compulsive behaviours at the core of the mental health condition.
These obsessions and behaviours can cause significant emotional distress, and impact on your ability to function day-to-day and focus on other tasks either at home or at work. BDD is therefore closely related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in its link between intrusive thoughts and behaviours.
If you believe you may have BDD or have recently been diagnosed, Priory has the UK’s largest network of mental healthcare hospitals and wellbeing centres, which allows for flexible outpatient and inpatient treatment programmes for BDD using a combination of talking therapies and medication depending on severity, which can help you reduce your symptoms and work towards freeing your mind of obsessions causing distress.
If you have BBD, you may develop a dislike for any part of your body which people would be unlikely to notice, and can be a minor imperfection or seemingly non-existent flaw, although it will seem much more prominent in your eyes when you observe yourself in a mirror. Whether it’s a perceived issue with your hair, skin or stomach for example, it can seem a distressing and uncomfortable enough issue that you may miss school, work or social engagements to avoid feeling distressed and self-conscious.
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For details of how Priory can provide you with assistance regarding mental health and wellbeing, please call 0330 056 6020 or click here to submit an enquiry form. For professionals looking to make a referral, please click here
This page was clinically reviewed by Dr Anne Perry (MBBS, MRCPsych), Consultant Psychiatrist at Priory Hospital Ticehurst House, in January 2022.
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