You think you’re Ugly?

Some people look normal but are so obsessed about their looks, that they find themselves ugly. Although looks have become very important for us of late, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is not normal. It is a perception of defect in body which does not exist, caused by a mental disorder that has some physical symptoms, or some form of eating disorder, or both in some cases. The glamour world shows abnormally perfect bodies, which are actually unhealthy, for looking good on screen.

According to psychiatrist Dayal Mirchandani, these are psychiatric disorders with no grounds in reality. There are many cases of people who are just not ready to listen to the doctor that their body is just fine. They would go on taking the opinion of many doctors. He added that the pop star Michael Jackson was an example of this disorder. Such people never realise that their hankering for the perfect look does more harm than good.

Typical traits of a person suffering from BDD are:

• Imagined flaw or abnormality in appearance.
• Feelings of shame, anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies.
• 30 percent of BDD affected people suffer from eating disorders that are associated with distorted body image or self image.
• Taking extreme steps such as resorting to plastic surgery for fixing their perceived flaw in the body.
• BDD is common in persons with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and it is often a genetic disorder.
• A BDD afflicted person has the tendency to keep asking people about his or her appearance.
• BDD disorder can cause a person to become a recluse and avoid socialising strictly, because they feel they do not look good enough.
• The patient cannot do the normal activities of day-to-day life and it is a hindrance in the normal pleasures of life. All the energy of such an individual gets zapped.

The ideal way of treating this condition is cognitive behavioural therapy. In this treatment, a therapist helps the person to examine his views better and change them for the better. It is a thankless task with painstaking patience and hard work required. The support of family members and loved ones is critical factors in helping such a person improve. Since 2 percent of the population is affected by this disorder, it is a challenge for the behavioural therapists, especially when we know that glamour in the media is not the only cause behind it. It tends to run in families.

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