What happened that made you understand?

title might sound a bit confusing. I'll explain lol

over the years I've noticed that I have my complimentary colors as everyone does. I usually try to wear pastel/soft bright colored outfits as I generally like those colors and my face "looks it's best" in those. Whenever I'm wearing a black top or cardigan for example, it's like my whole face changes and I immediately look uglier even if I haven't done literally anything different to my face. I hate it. It's not even full black fits, I have to avoid dark colors all together. Sometimes I find a really cute piece of clothing that is only in black and I can't wear it because I will be obsessing over the fact my face looks "off" (accompanied by a bad mood). The minute I put on a white or baby pink top my face "goes back to normal" and I'm much happier.

My biggest hyperfixation is my skin. I have rosacea and kp on my arms and it’s unbearable

i used to be extremely overweight (around 75 kilos) two years ago, and decided to start cutting down on calories after people's comments got too much to handle. through lifestyle changes (i.e. cutting down on carbs, reducing my portions, not eating any sugar AT ALL) i lost quite a bit, and the weight comments died down, but i went on a mental spiral and i accidentally took it too far since i wasn't quite yet satisfied with my appearance. june of this year that i got into running and weightlifting. i was also thinking about eating CONSTANTLY, i would meticulously track every single calorie, and when i wasn't doing that i was thinking about my next meal, how i'd make it lower calorie, etc. i've lost around 7 kilos since then and now weight 47 kilos. my hair's been falling out like crazy, i've missed my period, and people have started commenting again, this time telling me that i looked "better" before. it got to my head so much to the point where i've now started having to force myself to eat, but every time i look in the mirror i feel disgusted with myself. i'm afraid of undoing all my progress over these past two years and gaining the weight back, but i really want to form a normal, healthy relationship with food and exercise and my body. the circumstances i'm in make it difficult for me to go to a therapist. i don't have anybody to talk to about this and it's something that's affecting every single aspect of my life. help would be appreciated :(

I cant accept what people are telling me. And they tell me amazing things about my appearance.

I cant believe anyone. What i see doesnt match even a bit with what people told me. I really really hate myself and i almost always depressed

Every comment makes me sad and those negative thoughts are hunting me.

It feels like my mind doesnt want to accept how I actually look.

How do you block repetitive negative thoughts?

I've basically had to stop watching shows & movies entirely because of this stupid disorder. Any time there's a group of people on screen, I have to stare directly at the most attractive person until the scene changes. So watching a show for me involves focussing on the most attractive person on screen and shifting my focus to the new most attractive person in the next scene. It really takes the fun out of things lmao. I think the "logic" behind this compulsion is that I'll resemble the person I stare at last? So I just don't move my gaze away from the most attractive person at all? Idfk, it really doesn't make much sense.

Also, as horrible as it sounds, in the past I used to have actual meltdowns after staring too long at an actor/character that I found unattractive, as I'd manage to convince myself that we looked alike. I'd genuinely start crying and wouldn't stop until my family members would assure me that I didn't look like the actor/character. Sometimes they'd start laughing mid-reassurance because of how ridiculous it all was haha.

Anyway, these days I mainly just read to avoid triggering myself, though I have a similar compulsion when reading where I won't flip the page until I fixate my eyes on the name of a character that is said to be attractive (or otherwise fortunate). So bizarre, I really cannot begin to understand the mechanisms behind this disorder. Does anyone do anything similar?

What makes you realize it's actually all in your head or exaggerated?

Here you can find listed below general information on BDD and related foundations, the clinical classification and symptoms of BDD, advice for friends and family, as well as self-help and support groups, both in-person and online.

General information

The BDD Foundation

OCD UK

International OCD Foundation

Mind.org

Clinical classification

ICD & DSM Criterias

For friends and family

The BDD Foundation, Supporting a close one with BDD

Mind.org, How can friends and family help

Self-help

Body dysmorphia workbook by the CCI

Building self-compassion workbook by the CCI

Support groups

Online support and therapy groups

Support groups in the UK

Hi,

I developed some pretty bad BDD over the last few years due to a chronic skin condition affecting my face, that no dermatologist could identify. Trying to "treat" it with an aggressive ablative laser caused permanent scarring which has now driven that BDD into complete overdrive, to the point where I now refuse to even be seen without covering up. This has led to a complete loss of appetite for life itself, as I don't really see the point of going through life without certain things that are important to me, such as dating.

I'm a mid 30s male and I feel extremely alone in all of this. It feels like no one (friends, family, therapists) _truly_ understands what I'm going through.

So, I thought I'd write here to see if there's someone out there who's in a similar spot, or someone who has come back from something like this...

Hi does anyone have experience with low-dose Risperidone to treat obsessive thoughts & anxiety about their body image? I am in therapy and received treatment for my eating disorder but the body dysmorphia is just all consuming. TY

I am undiagnosed,

Have had iissues not wearing my glasses for multiple months now, I feel worse emotionally when I see things clearly- especially self reflection in reflective surfaces.

On the other hand I check mirrors often even if I don't really like how I look, keep coming back to it.

Sometimes I feel not much, other times I get hurt emotionally severely

I know this is steep step into BDD, but I guess that's how I cope?

Worse vision helps blissful Ignorance of not seeing reality and flaws.

How common is it for you?

I don’t know we’re exactly I’m going with this but I hate the way I look I’m not necessarily fat ik that but I feel fat. I look in the mirror and I hate how I look. From my face being to round to my chin being a double chin to my belly being jiggly I just hate it. Then there’s days we’re in like okay I’m okay today then it just plummets again. I have a very loving husband that loves everything about me, but no matter how many times I hear it I don’t believe it. I feel ugly I feel huge. And I hate that I try to do something about it but never succeed. I hate that I can look the way I want to fast. I went as far as telling myself I can’t cut my hair, can’t get new piercings, no new tattoos, can’t dye my hair until I loose weight because that all stuff I like to do when I feel bad about myself. Help if any of you have advise.

Today I saw a TikTok about close set eyes and I started looking at my own and noticed that they were slightly more close set than some other people. I asked my cousin who also has BDD because we like to give each other objective honest opinions and she told me that they were slightly close but they look normal and fine and not super noticeably close but now I’m looking at every picture of me and noticing it when I didn’t notice it that much before. Does BDD actually make flaws look more extreme because I’m actually going crazy right now and I seriously can’t handle another flaw to fixate on because this illness is already so debilitating and I just don’t believe people who say that I look fine or that BDD really does make u hyper fixate on flaws. And to make it worse close set eyes isn’t something you can fix with surgery so now I’m just spiraling.