The person who suffers from dysmorphophobia is obsessed with a defect in his body but his vision of himself is totally false. Often this body perception disorder is triggered in adolescence.
There dysmorphophobia is a body perception disorder classified as obsessive-compulsive or related disorders in the WHO ICD-11. It would concern approximately 2% of the world’s population, mostly women.
Definition: what is dysmorphophobia?
“The subject affected by dysmorphophobia suffers from a distorted view of himself, in complete disagreement with reality, explains Rodolphe Oppenheimer, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist. The person may for example imagining yourself overweight and actually being skinny. In most cases, the image that the individual has built is emotional and in no way derives from lucid reasoning towards one’s own person“. Most of the time, the defect or slight imperfection is on the head or face. But any part of the body can be the focus of attention. Often these concerns about body image begin in adolescence.
A subject with dysmorphophobia is obsessed with a physical defect of which he will most of the time exaggerate the importance : a nose that is too imposing, breasts that are too small or even thighs that are too wide. “There daily suffering experienced in the face of this defect is so important that many will do anything and everything to erase it, sometimes even risking their own physical integrity“, continues the therapist. “Anorexic women mainly suffer from this psychiatric disorder and always imagine themselves “bigger” than they really are. The people addicts to cosmetic surgery go so far as to reshape their own identity (change in eye color for example) and they are more and more numerous“. THE stress related to dysmorphophobia can be very serious and lead to consequences in terms of daily activities, job-related tasks, social situations. It can also lead to suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.
What causes dysmorphophobia?
Most people experience a significant discomfort with their own imagesuffer from great lack of self-confidence and are emotionally very fragile. “Social networks have also increased the impact of this disorder, in particular because of the existence of the “filtered“, embellishing reality…”.
Is there a test to know if you suffer from dysmorphophobia?
“There is indeed a clinical examination to diagnose this disorder, confirms our interlocutor. It will be measure the importance of the symptoms in the life of the subjecttheir frequency and duration“.
Meet a psychotherapist is essential if we wish to overcome this increasingly widespread disorder. “Like most patients, the subject will want to overcome the dysmorphophobia as quickly as possible, but it will take time to tame the problem and gradually change the look that he carries on himself, Rodolphe Oppenheimer analysis. Losing or gaining weight, reshaping a detail on your face, changing what was wrong. It won’t be enough. It’s all one psychological acceptance process that will have to be put in place later!”. Psychotherapy like psychoanalysis are advised in the treatment of this disorder because they allow people to reshape their perceptions of their own bodies and emotions. “Finally, the cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (CBT) is highly recommended to redefine beliefs about one’s physical appearance. Through a gradual and measured exposure, the subject learns to see itself differently and to accept some of its peculiarities until feeling benevolent towards his own image“.
thanks to Rodolphe Oppenheimerpsychotherapist, psychoanalyst and CBT teacher in Clichy (92), author of several books including the latest, “Psychotherapy by telephone”, published by Odile Jacob.