A Distorted Body Image: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Abstract

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is one of the mental disorders that warrant more research due to the current challenges and complexity of human life. A search through Medline, Academic Search Premier, PsycINFO, and PsyArticles, using "body dysmorphic disorder" and "intervention" keywords, showed that a total of 186 articles had been published for the past 25 years. BDD was added to the obsessive-compulsive and related disorder spectrum in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder-5 (2013). BDD is a preoccupation with an imagined defect in physical appearance by individual who looks normal which causes low self-esteem and co-morbids with other mental health problems. Individuals with BDD often end up with dermatological treatment and cosmetic surgery. However, in most cases, they frequently experience a dissatisfaction with the results and worsen the individual condition. Therefore, psychological intervention is needed to treat individuals with BDD to combat their negative perceptions on physical appearance. Research has shown that one of the effective interventions in treating individuals with BDD is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Some techniques that are recommended are psychoeducation, restructuring cognitive, exposure and ritual prevention, and others. This paper aims to discuss the clinical diagnosis and CBT intervention as a treatment for individual with BDD.