The Body dysmorphic disorder reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Body dysmorphic disorder

Body dysmorphic disorders cover a range of personality disorders where a person is dissatisfied with his/her body.

This classification can apply to people with eating disorders, as well as people who are excessively obsessed with plastic surgery (especially body modification), fanatical body-builders, and anabolic steroid abusers.

Some people can also become convinced that some parts of their bodies need to be removed, and that only through amputation of a limb can their bodies become "whole". This disorder, known as apotemnophilia, is hard for other people to understand, as it appears to defy common sense.

In the medical community, some make links between BDD and obsessive-compulsive disorder because of symptoms exhibited by sufferers of both disorders.

Note that this disorder is not related to gender identity disorder or transsexualism. Even though the desire to modify one's body is mirrored in BDD, the stated reasons differ and the symptoms are not similar. Furthermore, some people with gender identity disorder also do not express any desire to change their bodies also.

See also body image

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