Take Many Selfies? You May Have Body Dysmorphic Disorder

The rise of social media and smart phones has led to selfies being commonplace. Celebrities and politicians are known for taking selfies to show off their famous friends. Remember Barack Obama taking photos of himself with other world leaders at Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Supermodels and actors post selfies of how great they look in a bikini.

However, David Veale, a UK psychiatrist specializing in body dysmorphic disorder, has said that BDD sufferers are obsessively taking photos of themselves to check their appearance for defects.

Body dysmorphic disorder is a psychological disorder in which a person becomes obsessed with imaginary defects in their appearance or is drastically over concerned about a slight physical imperfection.

Body dysmorphic disorder sufferers often repeatedly check how bad their perceived flaw is, in mirrors and/or reflective surfaces such as CDs. However, with the advent of new technology such as smartphones, taking a selfie is a new way suffers can check their appearance.

David Vale says that 2/3rds of his body dysmorphic disorder clients are repeatedly taking and posting selfies on social media sites.

Bdd suffers may spend hours trying to achieve a picture which they believe does not show any flaws in their appearance, and this impacts on their ability to work, study or do other tasks, as they preoccupied with taking the perfect selfie.

Clinical psychologist Catherine Madigan treats body dysmorphic disorder so please call 9819 3671 or 0429 88 3671 or email anxietyaustralia.com.au@gmail.com for assistance.