Therapist For Body Dysmorphic Disorder In McKinney Texas
Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental disorder that is very difficult for those who suffer with it. Many individuals don't even realize it is a disorder. They may just feel severely depressed, anxiety, and constantly seeking for anything to help them feel better. Body dysmorphic disorder affects both men and women and usually starts around puberty. An individual may hyper focus on certain body parts and see flaws that may be real or imagined. Usually these flaws are so small that it is only the person struggling with BDD that is noticing it. Their brain tells them otherwise, in fact their brain can convince them that everybody is noticing that. Not only that but that if they do not do something to fix it they will not feel okay. Obsessive and repetitive behaviors are apparent with BDD. This is why body dysmorphic disorder used to be classified as obsessive-compulsive disorder. An individual may spend their day checking themselves in the mirror, picking their skin, asking others for reassurance, or research until they feel okay about the flaw. This of course brings a lot of depression. If you really think about it, when we don't feel good about ourselves, then we lose confidence. When we lose confidence, we lose motivation. This is a spiral that you may be experiencing with body dysmorphic disorder.
Body dysmorphic disorder is not the same as being self obsessed. This is a very big misconception. Individuals may think that the rituals that someone might do to reduce their perceived threat means that they must be vain. Did you know that there is treatment? Many individuals that I see have reported that they have seen many therapists for this disorder. The one constant that is missing from their treatment is that they are not doing the correct treatment. While I understand each individual is different I want to tailor the treatment specifically for your needs and use evidence-based treatments. This is one of those treatments that you can't just talk your way through it. There are a lot of behavioral changes as well as cognitive changes. Body parts individuals experiencing body dysmorphic disorder can fixate on are:
Moles
Freckles
Minor Scars
Facial or body hair
Too little hair on head (balding)
Size of breasts
Size and shape of genitalia
Muscle size
Size, shape, or symmetry of face or other body parts
Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder experiences compulsions. This means they need to fix the flaw or want to reduce their anxiety in some way. These can look like the following.
Repetitive checking of the real or imagined flaw
Avoiding mirrors
Avoid having pictures taken
Repetitive grooming (combing hair, etc.)
Repetitive touching of the flaw to gauge it's size
Repetitively putting makeup on
Wearing clothes to specifically to cover up a perceived or real flaw
Seeing doctors, dermatologists, etc.
Surgeries to fix the flaw
Mental review of appearance
Repeatedly asking others for their verbal opinion on the flaw