New York Center for Obsessive - BDD

Body Dysmorphic Disorder
BDD is an anxiety disorder that is on the Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum of disorder. The disorder consists of an individual becoming “obsessed” or overly concerned about an imagined flaw in one’s appearance. As well, an individual might become overly focused on a part of their body that presents a slight “defect” to their appearance. Usually, the center of the “obsession” is on the “flaw” of the individual is not recognizable to other people. It should be noted that a lot of individuals focus in on whether their nose is too big; they have slight blemishes on their skin, or the way that their body is proportioned. A common compulsion is for an individual to ask for reassurance from people about their “questioned” flaw. 

Dennis’ Story
“Dennis grew as the definition of the all American male. He played football, baseball and was a certified lifeguard. On the exterior, life appeared well for him. But on the inside, Dennis kept a secret obsession with his appearance. Even though he was always told that he was a good looking young man, Dennis felt that his nose was somehow disproportion to his face. He would frequently ask friends “if his nose was normal”, but no matter how many people reassured Dennis that his nose was fine he wasn't’t content. After a while, people began to tell Dennnis that he was to self-centered and overly concerned with his appearance. But Dennis could not prevent himself from looking in the mirror for hours examining his nose. He got constant thoughts that it was a little big from one angle and after a while he believed that he wasn't’t attractive at all.  In his senior year, Dennis began to withdraw from participating in sports due to the constant thought of him injuring his nose worse than it was. Dennis became wholly consumed with his nose. Not until the day when he was told by his older cousin that there was something called Body Dysmorphic Disorder that he realized what was the drive behind his obsession with his nose”

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