title: The mirror lies: body dysmorphic disorder.
abstract: Body dysmorphic disorder is an increasingly recognized somatoform disorder, clinically distinct from obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and depression. Patients with body dysmorphic disorder are preoccupied with an imagined deficit in the appearance of one or more body parts, causing clinically significant stress, impairment, and dysfunction. The preoccupation is not explained by any other psychiatric disorder. Patients present to family physicians for primary care reasons and aesthetic or cosmetic procedures. Cosmetic correction of perceived physical deficits is rarely an effective treatment. Pharmacologic treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and nonpharmacologic treatment with cognitive behavior therapy are effective. Body dysmorphic disorder is not uncommon, but is often misdiagnosed. Recognition and treatment are important because this disorder can lead to disability, depression, and suicide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Las Vegas, Nevada 89129, USA. thunt@medicine.nevada.edu
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Thienhaus
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ellwood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors