Most of us would like to change something in our appearance. Many do not like legs, nose, ears, and even a complex can develop due to the hated part of the body. Typically, with age, the individual takes on the features of his appearance, and the sharpness of perception passes. But it happens that a person is overly concerned about the defect of his body, the state becomes obsessive ideas. Such an obsession can develop into a mental disorder called dysmorphophobia. The disease is dangerous with its consequences in the absence of the necessary treatment.
About the disease
Dysmorphophobia - this (translated from Greek) means an obsessive fear of body deformation. A negative state refers to a lack of appearance, to which the sufferer has increased attention. There is also a painful perception of body odors: sweat, urine, intestinal gases and so on. This is also a kind of disease.
Dysmorphophobia Syndrome Psychiatry
Mostly suffer from this disorder in adolescence and youth. Violations captures the whole process of human social life. The sufferer is plunged into depression, which can develop into deep apathy. In severe cases, delirium, loss of self-control, and suicide attempts are frequent. In 2006, a number of studies were carried out, which revealed that the frequency of suicides with dysmorphophobia is two times higher than among patients suffering from depression. With painful dissatisfaction with their biological gender, the so-called gender identification, the development of mental illness accelerates.
What is the reason?
Many scholars are inclined to conclude that dysmorphophobia is a mental disorder that depends on biological factors. Examination of patients showed that the content of the neurotransmitter serotonin is at their low level. The same limit for dopamine and gamma aminobutyric acid. These are the so-called "hormones of pleasure." Their minimal production can give impetus to the development of dysmorphophobia. This theory is supported by the fact of a positive reaction to the class of antidepressants that allow serotonin to be available to all nerve cells. But there were cases when the symptoms of the disease intensified when using drugs.
Mental disorder is often found in individuals who suffer from obsessive-compulsive syndrome, expressed in the obsessive observance of individual rituals. Studies conducted using magnetic resonance imaging, support this fact, showing that patients with dysmorphophobia and this syndrome have the same anomalies in the brain. There is an assumption that sufferers have impaired perception and processing of visual information.
Psychological factors in the development of the disease
Children's age is often remembered by ridicule of peers over the victim's appearance. In the period when a person’s self-esteem is laid down , under the influence of teasers, a complex can develop that does not give rest in adulthood. Dysmorphophobia is a mental disorder that occurs mainly in people who are extremely insecure, withdrawn, very sensitive to the hostility of others, and are anxious for any reason. Sufferers consider themselves the most ugly, think that their shortcomings are noticeable to everyone, and people around look only at the ugly part of the body.
The painful perception of external data is affected by the excessive attention of parents to the aesthetic beauty of the body. Dad and mom unconsciously emphasize the non-standard part of the child’s body, thereby developing an inferiority complex. Adds fuel to the fire and the press, showing famous people on television and in magazines, promoting an ideal appearance. The epithet “beautiful” becomes a synonym for such concepts as smart, successful, happy. Dysmorphophobia syndrome is often associated with the presence of a underlying mental illness. This can be a sign of schizophrenia, bulimia nervosa, anorexia, trichotomania, muscle dysmorphia.
Symptoms of the disorder
Dysmorphophobia syndrome manifests itself in an individual's excessive preoccupation with his lack. The sufferer tries to hide it with the help of clothes or accessories. People around us sometimes perceive a veiled person as rather strange or trying to stand out among everyone. Dysmorphophobia is characterized by a "mirror symptom." It is expressed in the constant examination of its image in all reflective surfaces. This is done in order to find the most favorable position in which the flaw will not be visible.
Using a mirror, the sufferer evaluates where to make the correction. Patients usually do not like to be photographed so as not to "perpetuate" their defect. Intrusive touch of the location of the deficiency periodically manifests itself. The sufferer can manipulate his family, focusing on his frustration. He may demand increased attention to himself, pleasing his desires, or he voices the threat of violence against himself. Due to constant preoccupation with his appearance, the patient is not able to concentrate on something not related to the defect, and educational or labor activity is greatly affected.
Sufferers often visit plastic surgery clinics, work too hard in fitness centers, plague themselves with diets, or spend many hours in beauty salons. In the last stages of dysmorphophobia, its symptoms are strengthened and become dangerous. A patient can injure himself by trying to get rid of a hated flaw on his own, or commit suicide by simply losing faith in positive changes.
Muscle dysmorphophobia
This is a mental disorder in which the sufferer, despite the high level of his physical form, believes that he still has a small body size. A disease is defined as an obsession with one's own cultivation. It is believed that this disease is the opposite of anorexia. Often this disorder affects bodybuilders. Symptoms are focus on training, strict adherence to strict diets, uncontrolled use of anabolics, interest in all topics that are not related to this sport is lost.
The patient is always dissatisfied with his appearance. He spends almost all the time in the gym, does not miss a single workout, under any pretext. If the sufferer could not visit the “rocking chair”, he becomes irritable. The most progressive phase is manifested in the fact that the patient hides his "imperfect" body under his clothes, begins to practice at home so that no one sees him.
Dysmorphomania
With this mental disorder, the patient is convinced that he has a defect that can be removed surgically. This belief is delusional and does not lend itself to correction and criticism from the sufferer. The disease is accompanied by a depressive mood, disguise of emotions, and most importantly - the desire to get rid of the lack in any way. The patient can come up with a special hairstyle that will hide his "huge" ears, or walks in a hat all the time, constantly turning to doctors with a request to change the hated part of the body.
Sometimes sufferers try to fix their defect themselves, for example, file teeth, refuse food, and so on. Syndrome of dysmorphophobia, dysmorphomania in the absence of treatment leads to disastrous consequences. The sufferer, in addition to health problems and the psyche, usually remains completely alone.
Manifestations of the disease in adolescence
Dysmorphophobia of adolescents manifests itself in a depressed state due to its inconsistency with ideal. A man is afraid of speaking to people, worries that the environment will see his flaws. Young people with excessive preoccupation with their appearance begin to suffer from insomnia, they lose the desire to learn and spend time with friends. The patient is in a sad mood, often you can see his tears. Increasingly, there are cases of drug use to get rid of a lack, as well as alcohol. In severe cases, anorexia and bulimia are added to a mental disorder.
Treatment
To get rid of the disease requires a lot of patience, therapy takes time. But you need to remember that dysmorphophobia is a treatable disorder. Various recovery methods are used, for example, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. It takes place in several stages. First, the doctor helps the sufferer to realize that the defect does not need to be assessed, but it is necessary to accept and live with it. Gradually the patient is led to the idea that there is no need to hide his own flaw when communicating with people. The result of therapy is the cessation of the painful perception of one’s lack, the sufferer begins to calmly perceive obsessive thoughts.
An imaginary storytelling method is used in the treatment of mental illness. In this case, the doctor tells short stories that are based on the patient's obsessions and fears. After dubbing, a discussion takes place. Thus, situations close to suffering are re-experienced, and ways out of them are found. Cognitive restructuring is applied, which is expressed in training to challenge the validity of one’s fears, which force one to perceive one’s body distorted. Another successful method in the fight against the disease is hypnotic suggestive psychotherapy. With its help, the achieved treatment results are fixed in the patient in the subconscious. In addition to direct immersion in hypnosis, the patient is taught the basics of self-hypnosis, which allows you to replace negative ideas with productive thoughts.
Additional recovery methods
Dysmorphophobia, the treatment of which is important to begin at the first symptoms, requires a comprehensive study. Actively applied methods of body therapy, breathing exercises, auto-training. The use of cosmetic surgeries is undesirable, since a mental disorder cannot be cured in this way, and it may become a habit to constantly change your body. At the same time, dissatisfaction with oneself remains. Inpatient treatment takes place only in cases of patients' tendency to self-harm or in severe depressive states. When restoring mental health, antidepressants and antipsychotics are used. Dysmorphophobia disease does not provide for independent treatment. Postponing a visit to the doctor can lead to serious consequences.
Conclusion
If dysmorphophobia syndrome develops against a background of schizophrenia, then this case is extremely difficult, since existing treatment methods with this combination are ineffective. Relatively easy to recover patients in whom dysmorphophobia occurs on the basis of a real defect in appearance, but with which you can put up with. For example, a large but not too ugly nose.
For the prevention of mental disorder, it is important when raising a child not to focus on his external shortcomings, but to teach him how to deal with them or to accept them. You can’t make offensive comments, such as “how fat you are with us,” “short-legged,” and so on. It is necessary to maintain the child’s self-esteem at a high level, to believe in his strength and pay attention to his dignity. If you suspect the presence of negative obsessive thoughts, depressive states, it is better to contact a psychologist, psychotherapist.