Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Body dysmorphic disorder is a disease that few people know much about. It is not, however, a newly discovered disease. According to Dr. Katharine Phillips, descriptions of people suffering from a preoccupation with their image have been found from up to 100 years ago. (Phillips, Muting the Obsessions) It was officially identified as a distinct condition by the American Psychiatric Association in 1987. (Kirchner, par. 1) Due to the lack of literature on the subject, the disease is both under researched and under diagnosed. (Renshaw, par. 12) Today, improvements in assessment, evaluation, and treatment continue to be developed as scientists are discovering the importance and widespread nature of the disease. It has been found that, as of today, B.D.D has affected more than five million people in the United States alone. (Zal)

The name of this disease was derived from an Italian psychiatrist named Enrique Morselli, who originally created the term “dysmorphophobia.” In literal terms, dysmorphophobia means “fear of ugliness.” (Renshaw, par. 12) An article in U.S. News & World Report claimed that the disorder’s name is also linked to a Greek myth. This associated myth states that a historian named Herodotus once used the word ‘dysmorfia’ to describe the ugliest girl in Sparta. The girls’ appearance was supposedly so grotesque that she was taken to a shrine every day in hopes of having her ugly facial distortions revoked from her body. (Schroff, par. 4)