Dr. Vipul Gupta

Body dysmorphic disorder is a type of psychiatric disorder. It is when you cannot think about one or more defects or flaws in your appearance. These flaws are usually very minor and sometimes even unnoticeable. This is actually a much more serious disorder than many other people may think. This is because people with body dysmorphic disease may avoid many situations and also suffer from severe anxiety or shame. Here is everything you need to know about body dysmorphic disease.

Causes
Just like other psychiatric disorders, there is no known cause of body dysmorphic disease. However, there are a lot of factors, which increases your risk of developing it which include:

1. Brain disorders: Many people with abnormal brain chemistry disorders suffer from body dysmorphic disease. 
2. Genes: People whose blood relatives have this disease or have obsessive compulsive disorder are more likely to develop this disorder as well. 
3. Environment: Cultural and social influences are a major cause of body dysmorphic disorder as well.

Symptoms
There are, however a lot of symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder, most of which are psychological in nature. They include: 

1. Having a preoccupation with a flaw in the body, which is very minor or perhaps even unnoticeable.
2. Beliefs that people are mocking you in relation to your flaw.
3. Being a perfectionist

It is also worth noting that this obsession can affect any part of the body and can also include several parts of the body or different parts of the body at different times. Here are the possible treatments of body dysmorphic disorder.

Treatments
There are a variety of treatments, which a patient can opt for and a variety of methods of curing the problem. Here are the most common.

1. Cognitive behavioral therapy: This is when a therapist tries to stop you from thinking about the flaw that you have been focusing on way too much. 
2. SSRI: SSRI stands for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors. They are given in cases, where body dysmorphic disorder is caused by problems related to the brain chemical serotonin. 
3. Hospitalization: This is a severe measure, but may need to be taken if you are in danger of harming somebody or you cannot perform daily activities. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a psychologist.