Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder

✍ Scribed by Katharine A. Phillips

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 316
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

In a world obsessed with appearance, it is not surprising that body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD -- an emotionally painful obsession with perceived flaws in one's appearance -- has manifested itself as a troubling and relatively common problem for many individuals. In The Broken Mirror, the first and most definitive book on BDD, Dr. Katharine A. Phillips provided a comprehensive manual for patients and their physicians by drawing on years of clinical practice, scientific research, and professional evaluations of over 1,000 patients. Now, in Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder: An Essential Guide , the world's leading authority on BDD reaches out to patients, their friends, and their families with this concise and updated handbook. BDD causes sufferers to be obsessed by perceived flaws in their appearance and may afflict as much as two percent of the population, or nearly five million people. Many sufferers are able to function well in society, but remain secretly obsessed by their ''hideous acne'' or ''horrible nose,'' sneaking constant peeks at a pocket mirror, or spending hours at a time redoing makeup. Others find their lives disintegrate because of their appearance obsessions. It is not an uncommon disorder, simply a hidden one, since sufferers are often embarrassed to tell even their closest friends about their concerns. Using stories and interviews to show the many different behaviors and symptoms of BDD, and a quick self-assessment questionnaire, Dr. Phillips guides readers through the basics of the disorder and through the many treatment options that work and don't work. With Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder: An Essential Guide, sufferers will find both helpful advice and much needed reassurance in a compact, down-to-earth indispensable book.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 10
Preface......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 14
1. Patients Speak......Page 18
2. What Is Body Dysmorphic Disorder?......Page 28
3. How Do I Know If I Have Body Dysmorphic Disorder?......Page 40
4. Body Dysmorphic Disorder Comes in Many Forms......Page 58
5. Painful Obsessions......Page 72
6. Compulsive Behaviors: Mirror Checking, Grooming, Camouflaging, Dieting, and Others......Page 82
7. How Body Dysmorphic Disorder Affects Lives: Social Avoidance, Problems with School and Work, Violence, Suicide, and Other Consequences......Page 104
8. Gender and Body Dysmorphic Disorder across the Life Span......Page 130
9. What Causes Body Dysmorphic Disorder? Clues to an Unsolved Puzzle......Page 142
10. Getting Better: A Brief Treatment Guide......Page 156
11. How to Successfully Treat Body Dysmorphic Disorder with Medication......Page 170
12. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Body Dysmorphic Disorder......Page 204
13. Cosmetic Treatments: Surgery, Dermatologic, Dental, and Other Treatments......Page 248
14. Anorexia Nervosa, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Other Psychiatric Disorders—What’s Their Relationship to Body Dysmorphic Disorder?......Page 258
15. Advice for Family Members and Friends......Page 266
16. Getting Help for Body Dysmorphic Disorder......Page 280
A......Page 292
C......Page 293
D......Page 294
G......Page 295
M......Page 296
O......Page 297
P......Page 298
S......Page 299
T......Page 300
Z......Page 301
A......Page 302
B......Page 303
C......Page 304
E......Page 306
F......Page 307
I......Page 308
M......Page 309
O......Page 310
R......Page 311
S......Page 312
T......Page 314
W......Page 315
Z......Page 316