Online Body Dysmorphic Treatment: Find Body Dysmorphic Recovery Today

What is Body Dysmorphic Disorder?

Most of us dislike something about our appearance. Some dislike their smile, some feel their eyes are too small, and others dislike their weight. While we may be bothered by these imperfections, they don’t get in the way of living life.

People with body dysmorphic disorder, however, think about their flaws, whether they are real or perceived, for hours each day of the week. Their negative thoughts overtake their mind and they don’t listen to their friends and family members who assure them that there is nothing wrong. A person with body dysmorphic disorder may have serious emotional distress that interferes with functioning properly.  

Most Common Areas of Concern for Body Dysmorphic Disorder

While sufferers of body dysmorphic disorder can obsess about body part, here are some common body concerns:

Body Weight

If you suffer from Body Dysmorphic Disorder and are concerned with your body weight, you may obsess about your weight and how toned your muscles are.

Hair

Hair can be obsessed about by sufferers of body dysmorphic disorder, whether it’s too much hair or not enough hair.

Facial Features

Sufferers of body dysmorphic disorder often focus on their nose, but it can include any part of the face.

Skin Imperfections

Skin imperfections are a common concern for some suffering from body dysmorphic disorder. Wrinkles, acne, blemishes, burns, and scars are examples.

What are Symptoms of Body Dysmorphic Disorder?

Symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder can range from person to person, but here are some examples:

• You find yourself avoiding mirrors
• You don’t allow your picture to be taken
• You over exercise regularly
• You are always changing your clothes unnecessarily
• You find yourself making many trips to see a dermatologist
• You are obsessed and constantly think about your appearance
• You avoid social situations because you think people will notice your imperfection
• You suffer from emotional issues like depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and others
• You believe everyone is intensely analyzing your flaws
• You find yourself measuring or touching your flaw constantly
• You ask for reassurance about your imperfection often
• You hide in the dark in an effort to camouflage your imperfection
• You spend way too much time trying to hide your flaw

What Causes Body Dysmorphic Disorder?

While it is not known exactly what causes body dysmorphic disorder, it is often developed by those with other mental disorders like anxiety and depression. For this reason, body dysmorphic disorder may be caused by biological reasons. 

Some other factors that might influence body dysmorphic disorder include:

• You experienced traumatic events in your childhood
• You have a low self-esteem
• Someone important to you criticized your appearance.

Body Dysmorphia Levels of Care

Outside of the primary care setting, there are a few levels of care available to individuals with eating disorders. Let’s review binge eating disorder treatment options:

Outpatient

• Often where the treatment process begins
• Patient lives at home and attends hourly sessions at their providers’ offices
• Appropriate for patients who are medically stable, motivated, self-sufficient, and have adequate support and structure at home

Intensive Outpatient

• Typically occurs in a specialized setting (e.g., a clinic or hospital)
• Patients live at home and attend sessions three to five times a week that last approximately three hours each
• Program may include numerous types of therapy, including, but not limited to, individual, group, and counseling
• Appropriate for patients who are medically stable, self-sufficient, and have adequate support and structure at home, but may need some degree of external structure beyond self-control

Partial Hospitalization (Full-Day Outpatient Care)

• Occurs in a specialized setting and can be connected to a hospital program or a free-standing facility
• Patient requires a high level of supervision and monitoring
• Patient must be able to demonstrate some ability to retain the gains made in treatment without 24-hour monitoring
• Patient must not be a suicide risk or medically compromised to the point of requiring hospitalization
• Patient must have sufficient resources and motivation to attend program
• Patient’s home or living environment must be one that can be supportive of the recovery process
• Wide variety in quality of programming and hours of available treatment across programs, making it critical that patient’s needs and circumstances are appropriate for this level of care
• Care is typically 5– 12 hours per day, 4– 7 days per week.

Residential Treatment Center

• Highly specialized programs that can be operated independent of hospital setting, but sometimes connected to a hospital setting
• Indicated when patient is not able to retain gains without 24-hour monitoring
• May be indicated when severity of symptoms necessitates constant monitoring in order to initiate and sustain symptom-free behavior and normalized eating
• May be indicated for patients whose activities of daily living are compromised by the disorder May be indicated for the development of a normalized, healthy lifestyle conducive to long-term health and well being
• May include specialized approaches that help the patient develop routines and activities of daily living that create patterns of behavior that are conducive to recovery
• Useful in situations with a high degree of psychiatric comorbidity that require intensified focus during treatment
• Sometimes indicated on the basis of a lack of supportive and safe environment where the patient can be expected be able to make meaningful, retainable progress
• May be appropriate when patient is overwhelmed with symptoms and unable to refrain from reverting to symptoms or other behaviors that compromise their well being when alone
• Appropriate for patients with either lower or higher levels of motivation, but generally patients must enter treatment voluntarily

Inpatient Hospitalization

• Generally used for a period of short-term stabilization proceeding initiation of treatment at lower levels of care
• Indicated in situation where patient is a suicide risk or gravely disabled by symptoms and unable to participate in residential or lower levels of care due to presenting symptoms, which may include depression, poor motivation, poor insight, and/ or other factors that limit ability to meaningfully participate in lower levels of care
• Appropriate in situations where hospital-based medical care is indicated (i.e., IV lines or other more invasive medical treatments are needed)

Body Dysmorphic Disorder Treatment Options

Body dysmorphic disorder can be a traumatic and destructive disorder to endure. Here are some common body dysmorphic treatment options your provider may recommend, likely in combination of each other:

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a type of therapy that can be used to change the way you think, known as cognitive therapy. Another type is called behavioral therapy, which can help you change your behaviors related to body dysmorphic disorder. The goal of psychotherapy is to change the false narrative about the perceived defect and to reduce the compulsive behavior that often follows body dysmorphic disorder.

Medication

Medications such as antidepressants may be prescribed to treat body dysmorphic disorder. SSRIs are a common antidepressant used to treat BDD. Similarly, antipsychotic medicines also are prescribed to treat BDD.

Group or Family Therapy

Getting support from your family is a critical piece of overcoming body dysmorphic disorder. Part of the process in family therapy will be to teach your family members to understand body dysmorphic disorder and to also learn the signs and symptoms that accompany it. 

Get Online Body Dysmorphic Disorder Treatment

My name is Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, I am a consultant psychiatrist in Miami, Florida. I believe that compassion, when directed towards self and others, can lead to profound health and healing. If you need online body dysmorphic disorder treatment, I can help! I have created a unique treatment model in which you will have the  opportunity to work with providers who I specifically refer to based on your current experience, diagnosis and needs.  I build this team around you and will coordinate your care with the goal to find meaning in your experience, and free you of your symptoms so that you can feel more at peace, and have greater capacity to adapt to life circumstances, to challenge yourself, to be creative, to develop intimacy and to have a fulfilling lifestyle With more than 20 years of clinical experience and a vast network of clinical partners, I’ve developed a unique treatment approach that delves into the underlying issues that place a person at risk for mental health conditions.  Together we will create a protocol and treatment plan that is well coordinated, and that can guide you on your healing process, toward health and inner peace. Contact me today!