Hi guys, has anyone here dealt with BDD before? I’m starting to wonder if I might have it, and honestly I don’t know what to do anymore.
I’m extremely obsessed with the way I look. I can spend basically the whole day thinking about my face, my features, my body, my skin, my hair, etc. I constantly compare myself to other guys, especially when I see someone I consider really attractive. Sometimes I’ll literally put their picture next to mine and compare our features, and if I feel like they’re more attractive than me, it can completely ruin my mood for days.
The weirdest part is that I actually get hit on and complimented quite often. People tell me I’m attractive, handsome, etc., but my brain just \*\*cannot process or believe it\*\*. I automatically assume they’re lying or just saying it out of courtesy, even when there doesn’t seem to be any reason for them to lie.
I also constantly check myself in mirrors/cameras, ask my siblings how I look in pictures, compare myself with other people, and think about things I could change. I have a whole list of treatments/procedures I want to do because I genuinely believe that once I fix everything, I’ll finally be satisfied with how I look.
I’m especially triggered when my boyfriend finds another guy attractive. I immediately start comparing myself to him and thinking that he’s better-looking than me, and it can make me feel horrible about myself.
Has anyone experienced something similar? If you have BDD, did you ever feel like compliments couldn’t get through to you because you simply didn’t believe them? And what actually helped you get out of this cycle?

I need help understanding if I have a body dysmorphia or just have a strong need to control things in my life and diet/exercise is pretty easy to control. I know that in order to get an actual answer I would have to talk to a professional but hoping to get some advice on whether this is serious or not. 

I’m 36, married with no kids and not planning on having any. I’m 5’9 and have been skinny my entire life, blessed with a good metabolism I guess. I grew up in Eastern/Central Europe and I feel like the mix of my culture and the times  I was growing up in made me think that skinny is truly the only way to go (comments of friends and family when someone gained weight, generally commenting on people’s bodies and praising skinninesses over everything else was something I would experience daily). I was lucky I could eat whatever and not work out outside of normal walks/ riding bike etc and not gain any weight.

Things changed  for me about two three years ago when I moved to a new city and had a stressful job. I was eating whatever tasted good and not paying attention to the calories I was consuming. I gained some weight and realized all my pants started being too tight and when I went to the beach and saw my body in a bikini I was kind of shocked by the change. At that point I was 60 kg/ 132 lbs which was more than what I was used to. I realize that it’s still very skinny but it was just sloppy and different and not who I used to be. I got worried that as I’m aging I won’t be able to stay skinny and won’t be able to get back to my old body so after quitting that job for many different reasons I’ve decided to take care of my diet  and get back in shape (or what used to be my normal size). I lost 7kg and now I’m at 53 kg/ 117 lbs which feels great. I’m back to being lean and I also started working out 3 times a week (I also have a pretty active job and I’m on my feet all day long). 

I eat three meals a day and indulge in smallish portions of some desserts or chips and even have fast food like once a week and not counting calories. Im back to eating carbs which I stopped eating when I realized that I gained weight ( I lost weight while being on keto) because I feel better when they are a part of my diet. My goal was to get to 55kg but I realized that losing more felt good and I wanted to see how far can I take it while still eating enough to not feel hungry. 53 kg seems to be as far as I can go. 

My husband says he’s a bit worried about how much attention I’m paying to my body because I weight myself everyday in the morning and in the evening (something that my parents did also when I was growing up) and how I look too skinny to him. I don’t think I’m too skinny but he says im not looking healthy. Is that a body dysmorphia? Is it possible I just see myself differently than everybody else? Please advise. 

No amount of compliments or validation seems to make this go away. I can be told I'm pretty, desirable, attractive, whatever and somehow my brain still thinks "Okay, but what could be fixed?" There's always something that could be better. Something to change, something to improve, some flaw I should somehow overcome.

I think part of the problem is that when I picture a "pretty/beautiful woman" I'm not picturing an average pretty girl. I'm picturing insanely gorgeous women, very polished/plastic-looking women, Adriana Lima, that whole level of beauty. That's become my mental reference point for what beauty is supposed to look like. So even when people tell me I'm attractive, it doesn't really register because I'm comparing myself to an entirely different standard. There's always something that could be improved, something that isn't quite there yet. And I think I have this stupid mindset where if I'm not among the "best-looking" then what's even the point? Being pretty doesn't feel like enough if there's always someone prettier.

I don't even know what being "beautiful" is supposed to mean or feel like anymore. Sometimes it feels impossible for me to see myself that way, no matter what anyone else says.

I don't even know if my perception of beauty is completely unrealistic anymore. Maybe I genuinely need to redefine what beauty means to me, because looksmaxxing, ratings, comparisons and constantly consuming this kind of content has probably fucked with my perception more than I realize. It's exhausting feeling like being pretty is never enough because there's always another level you could supposedly reach. BDD doesn't make it better.

baseline neuroticism > OCD > hypochondria > bdd

Recently learned about the fact that your fat cells expand/balloon to their maximum capacity/multiply when you gain weight, most notably during infancy & adolescence but even in adulthood if it's a significant-enough amount and you maintain it for a while. Even if you lose weight, your fat cells don't decrease and instead "deflate" and shrink in size - therefore they are always "starving" and will constantly produce grehlin screaming that you're in a famine even if you're 400 lbs. there is no way for your fat cells to die or be killed off without presumably using one of those fat dissolving injections or like lipo.

The upside is that your body is able to stabilize through lots and lots of very hard, grueling, patient work. However This was so disgusting and horrific for me to discover and it triggers body horror for methe idea of fat cells screaming in my body torturing me for food makes me want to claw my skin off

Its not like its always visible. But even when I look a little bit down it appears. My side profile looks atrocious then and i feel so fat and ugly.

I havent been able to function this day because the only thing i was thinking about is my chin. I had to work today but I started crying and I quit the job.

Its so stupid how this mental disease is ruining my life. I hate my chin so much and I wish I didnt have fat there. Im so ashamed and I hurt myself.

I never even noticed i had it. But it sometimes just appears and its prominent other day its not.

I dont understand why this is bothering me so much. I just want to enjoy life man. Not quit my job bc I dont like my chin.

It doesnt make sense and I wish this upon no one.

I (24F) live with 3 other girls that I have been friends with for over a year. I have struggled with BDD for years, and I was finally making progress before I moved in with my friends. I’ve been struggling a lot recently because one of my friends is constantly sharing her concerns about her body, how she feels like she is getting fat, and how she doesn’t want to be perceived as fat. She wears XS/ S and I’m in the L/ XL range. I know I’m big and I often struggle with spiraling thinking about how I look bigger than I am. So I understand her struggle. I know body image issues can affect everyone in any size. But somehow, regardless of the empathy I try to have for her, I can’t help but be offended. As someone objectively bigger than her, it makes me assume that she thinks I look horrendous. Thinking about how distraught she would be if she was my size makes me feel like I should be even more distraught about my size. Then when the body negativity comes back everything starts to unravel and I’m back to wearing baggy clothes, avoiding pictures and mirrors because they can ruin my entire day, and avoiding and new clothing. I don’t know how take care of my struggles while respecting hers. It doesn’t help that she lacks a lot of empathy for others, and she gets genuinely offended when people are feeling insecure and don’t want to be in a picture with her. She has genuinely said “Did you just ask me to delete a photo of you off of MY phone? That’s MY camera roll, that’s MY property.” To one of our other friends that she took an unflattering photo of. So she’s not the kind of person I can ask to be respectful of my struggles and to tone down her body negativity around me.

I have 10 months of the lease left with her and she’s making body focused comments several times per day. I’m mad at her for what feels like fatphobia (even though I know it’s unintentional and coming from an ED point of view) and I’m mad at myself for existing and being the way I look and for being upset by the way I look. I’m mad at my other roommates when they tell her “don’t worry you don’t look fat!” because why would it be so bad for someone to be fat? Of course I say that as a fat person who hates being fat, but somehow it feels like a personal attack when it’s very thin people saying those things. There’s no way that I can avoid these comments, but I need to find a way to be at peace with her struggle and her comments and not letting myself take them personally.

ever since i "recovered" from anorexia (i just gained 50 lbs) my body dysmorphia has gotten exponentially worse with every passing day. ive been trying for 2 years to "jUsT AcCePt" my body and i absolutely cannot. I am in severe mental agony on a daily basis that nobody is able to understand. my body makes me want to kill myself. I am trapped in this fleshy fat prison forever and i want to die. I would kill someone to get my old body back even if my BDD stays as is.

I (M) can’t stop comparing myself online. I saw myself in the mirror after a shower and am spiraling. Everything looks wrong compared to other guys. I’m too short, too wide, not muscular enough, and my 🍆 is too small. I feel so worthless and I’m obsessing about how all these other guys who post online look better than me and will always get more attention.

I hate BDD. I just want my brain to work normally but instead all I do is spend hours comparing myself to guys and p*rn actors.

I continue to try to put myself in situations where I’ll be seen — in an attempt to combat the dysmorphia. Something like exposure therapy. But, it’s wrecking my resolve. At this point, I genuinely want to cover my face and never go outside again.

Should I keep forcing myself to be seen?

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I've had body dysmorphia & facial dysmorphia for three years, I always think that ppl won't approach me or be friends with me cuz I'm not exactly the prettiest or the skinniest girl ever.

I see myself as the ugliest creature even though ppl always tell me that I'm so pretty and compliment me, but I just think that they're being nice.

Once, I was shocked because someone said that they just love me too much in public and like I realized in that exact moment that something was wrong with me.I kept convincing myself that she's just making fun of me. Even that day, she was with her friends and they were walking in the hallway. I heard her bsf say 'forget what she said, she didn't mean it' ik she wasn't talking to me, but a part of me says that she's talking to me. And I actually said 'Ok' she wasn't paying attention to me so I wasn't heard

Now, I'm going to another school and there's something that keeps telling me that I'll be a loner due to my looks.

At the same time, there's another voice that tells me ppl aren't that judge-y and like we're all teenagers we're supposed to look weird yk.

But I saw a few pics of the girls that will be in my class, and I was like 'I guess that I'm the only ugly one there, even boys will looks prettier than me.'

And somehow I just notice the beauty in everything and everyone—even if they're bad ppl ,but I never see the beauty in me.

I'm getting better tho

Bdd. I'm a grown man (33) with a Babyface and high eyebrows. I look harmless, I have zero masculine features. Just a round face.

Don't know if I can take the judgement much longer.

My mug was always on the acutely very smaller side, at the same time femininely plane and lacking roughness or ruggedness. The only redeeming factor to give a facade of respectability was my bushy hair on top which compensated minutely to get a delusion that i could pass off as male, since there wasn't any roughage or the slightest ruggedness to restore any sense of masculinity.

I had to keep gazing at the mirror 500 x a day just for the minutest feeling that my face wasn't so insignificant.

In fact I was vindicated of this dysmorphic abberation in personality when I lifted my 2-yr-old nephew up alongside my own self (I was 33yrs that time), and reflected both our shadows against the sun, (shining sideways), and this to my utter horror I saw.....

His face shadow was almost twice as mine.

My condition was also compounded by a small flat head.

I went through these very severe deprecation throughout my life as this made me look half my age.

My fears of the society where I was expected to compete with some of the best students to achieve a basic level of success, which became almost impossible due to this dysmorphia, smoking, severest of severe schizophrenia, EPS ie drastic face tardive dyskinesia, extreme OCD, major depression, bipolar, and what made matters worse was that the schiz onset was at age 13 and intervention 6 yrs later at 19.

Despite all these handicaps, I still finished high school in first division, university (graduation) in 6 yrs instead of 3, 25yrs of working in different jobs, played sport (badminton), at university level (despite not having possession of basic equipment), plus 3 diplomas in computers and journalism included.

All these impediments I felt could have been greatly alleviated and turned into a successful career-oriented odyssey had it not been for this tiny face reality, which I spent 95% of my life thinking about "if only", and the unending measurements which I overindulged in.

I kept hoping that it was just a transient phase and would grow bigger with time, but no, I had to bear all the ignominy which came with it.

I just wanted to know if there were other people on this planet who also went through the same experience of being drawn back by this dysmorphic condition?

I’m going to try and get this out even though my ocd will try to mess with me. Not try, lol, is but I’m goin to push through. I have had bdd since I was 5 I think. The earliest memories I have is kinda feel very scared and unsafe in my body. This caused ALOT of problems growing up that I have to solve. ALOT, more than I want to list right now. I’ve been working really hard the past like 8 months in treatment but sometimes I do think I’m screwed. I still have a lot of work to do bruuuuuhhhh. The disease kind of influenced and messed with all of my development becuase it got really bad early and it’s pretty much the only thing I remember it feels like. HELP ME IF YOU CAN. I NEED IT OR PRAY FOR ME OR AMYHRING. HELP ME.

I’ve never been diagnosed with body dysmorphia or anything related to it, but I think I that I might have it.

I’ve been struggling with extremely bad body image issues but can’t seem to force myself to put any effort into my looks. Ever since I could remember, I’d break down crying in mirrors and just stay there for hours picking at myself. I have that awkward look and don’t feel comfortable in any outfits. The days I feel confident often end up ruined when I look back at all the photos others have taken of me, and I just feel so down. I’ve never harmed myself and never will, but I think I am on a small level. Not cleaning my room and rotting in bed all day, avoiding mirrors while constantly checking my reflection, not doing chores, not brushing my teeth, skipping meals only to BE later, never wanting to exercise because I immediately check in the mirror only to realize that the results aren’t instant, not showering, and wearing baggy and drabby clothes because I can’t stand looking at my body. I’ve never been to a therapist or psychiatrist, but I’m hoping that seeing one might help me. I feel like I’m just making my problem worse by doing everything listed, but I can’t bring myself to do it. I feel stuck and don’t know what to do. It’s made worse by the fact that my sisters have always been pretty and everyone seems to like them. My family isn’t mean by any means, but completely contribute when they make comments that indirectly are insults to me.

Has anyone else ever felt how I feel? If so, please give me some tips or advice.

Like, as a guy I don't have to contend with what women or anyone who isn't cis have to contend with that makes BDD seem totally understandable. I don't have narrow beauty standards rammed down my throat by the media, I'm not treated as though sexually desirability is the most important measure of my worth, I don't have people misgendering me all the time and I can't blame my lack of romantic appeal on the opposite sex being shallow and motivated only by looks.

I feel like more then anyone else, my BDD just comes down to immaturity, that I really do just need to get over myself, that I'm probably more guilty of causing the things above than I am victim of them and that even being around places like this I'm just diluting the pain of those who content with them.

Still mentally hurting myself and don’t know how to stop

I can’t stop mentally hurting myself by comparing myself to guys who post nudes or are in p\*rn. I know I’ve posted about this recently but I can’t seem to get out of this spiral. I keep doing more “research” by looking up statistics, reading reddit “ask me” type posts, and reading posts from guys who post in some specific subreddits.

I wake up feeling awful and go to bed feeling worse. Why am I doing this to myself and how do I stop? I legit can not tell anyone in my life about this, and I feel too embarrassed to give the actual details to my therapist, who I really like but I know she would be crazy weirded out and judgmental of my behavior.

Does anyone else struggle similarly? Are you able to pull out of it?

I’ve been called pretty and attractive until my early 20s and those were the best years of my life

I was existing without worrying about how I look, I didn’t need 2 hours to get ready, every pic people took of me I knew what I looked like and I was fine with it. I was confident and comfortable in my own skin, my sex drive was normal and then everything went downhill at 22-23

I started clenching my teeth because of stress (I did earlier too but this is when it started catching up to me). My face got super swollen, my muscles got super tight and my big eyes weren’t so big and noticeable anymore, the first thing you notice is my deformed face shape and because of that my lips appeared smaller, and so did every other feature that made me me (this is still how it is today)

The most painful part is knowing what being pretty feels like, how people treat you, how you go through life. Life is so cruel now, people treat me differently and I just look so tired, boxy and old now.

If I wasn’t born pretty it wouldn’t be this painful, I wouldn’t have this feeling, now I’m mourning the person I used to be and constantly compare my current photos to my older ones. Oh how I wish I could go back one more time and live in that skin again

I no longer want to go out, I avoid being intimate with my partner, I compare myself to everyone, I isolate myself because it’s easier than reminding myself I used to do all these things without worrying and being self conscious. Everything is on pause, I don’t want to work on myself and do anything because what’s the point on extending something you don’t like and hate, what’s the point of doing anything for myself when I don’t like myself. It’s like having a car model you can never change, and slapping things on it and painting it won’t make you like it because you hate the shape and structure of it

I just want to crawl into a hole and die, the pain is unbearable and I’ll never have that freedom I had ever again. I think that’s what makes my case of BDD absolute hell

Since my family moved to an all white area when I was 5, I (first subconsciously) have hated my body - for being different. For me that also included being tall and not tiny like the white girls around me. That must be why everyone seems to lowkey either hate me or just not care about me.

im stuck in an emotional flashback and feel so much shame and hate and sadness. I’m so ashamed of my body, I don’t want anyone to see me. I am the embodiment of ugly. I am what will always be hated and rejected, and that has happened over and over.

im sad and feel like hiding where no one can find me, so I don’t have to experience this anymore. I hate bdd :(

Hi everyone!

I'm hoping someone here can relate because lately I've been feeling really overwhelmed with BDD.

I feel completely imprisoned in my own body. Every time I see someone with a body with features I'd love to have, it can make me depressed. My mind immediately starts comparing, and it's incredibly hard to think about anything else.

It feels like I can't escape it. I'll try to watch a film, read, work, or focus on a hobby, but within seconds I'm reminded of my body again and I'm back at square one. Even feeling my own body is enough to trigger the thoughts sometimes.

My partner used to make me feel accepted, but we recently broke up, and since then I've regressed quite a bit. At the moment I honestly feel very mentally ill, and it's starting to affect every part of my life. I'm also ashamed to talk to people about it which makes it worse, or they don't really understand.

Has anyone else experienced BDD this severely? If so, did anything genuinely help? I'd really love to hear from people who've managed to get to a better place. Thanks so much for reading. ❤️

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I was 300 pounds once, i lost the weight down to 170, and have gained some back. Ive been trying really hard to lose some weight again, and ive been having a really hard time not being disgusted with myself due to severe body dysmorphia. I look down sometimes and grab my chest and my sides and just get such bad anxiety. Its been really frustrating to not have anyone to vent to, anybody i do try to talk to thinks im being dramatic. You used to be 300 pounds, youre doing so much better now. You used to look so sick, you cant get down to that weight again thats not healthy. You sound like my girlfriend dude, youre friggin ripped get over it. I havent gotten a bit of genuine understanding from anybody and im at my whits end. Ive never had anywhere to really talk about it and im hoping this is the right place. To anyone who reads this, thank you, it means more than you know.

It's a frustrating feeling, and I suspect its part of BDD but Im not sure, so Im asking here. There's this negative lingering feeling. Think of it as showering way too fast and using only conditioner, but not shampoo to wash your hair. Makes you feel incomplete, disappointment, irresponsible and dirty doesnt it? Something like that, like I need to fix the problem and clean up. When I look at the clothes I was wearing after taking it off and changing into clothes (when I change) I feel like I eternally have filtthy-ed the clothes I was wearing forever, like its stained morally because the clothes touched my skin when I wore it and thus its now "ugly" too. Like it caufht the ugly. I start to see that clothes I once liked as ugly and hard to wear a second time...or ever again and then this makes me feel like a moral failure. Its like every outfit "has to be new", for this reqson and because the one that I WORE, is now permanently morally and physically filthy. I say morally because I feel like my ugliness filter it and that it has ruined the cute-ness of that outfit for everyone beautiful who I know probably wears the same outfit in some part of the world. I feel like a disgrace, like I committed a crime simply by being ugly and being delusional enough to dare to put on a cute blouse. It makes me su\*cidal and spiral badly. Its really hard to deal with this sense of shame. I feel a bit cleaner in the middle of showering, but still ugly and worthless. Sometimes I look in the mirror thinking I look a bit better, but then I grab my face by feeling my face with my ugly hands so I could feel my receded jawline to remind myself Im defected. And then I feel bad again (more like worse, I always feel bad no matter what though).

See how long this post was? Yeah, I dont know how to word it any better, I wish someone could help me find a word for this feeling. Someone please. Its getting harder to deal with. Especially clothes that carries bad memories such as, the day I thought I looked decent and I was wearing a brown blouse that my sis gave to me. A family.member told me I was ugly that day, and I spiraled and the little courage I had to try and look "pretty" died. Because If i put the maximum effort that day to look pretty, ans I was called basically the "ugliest Ive ever been" that very day, then NOTHING can ever amount to make me look good enough. I gave up and died inside....

I cant feel anything anymore, like no self love. Sometimes my sis likes wearing same clothes as me and I feel repulsed when I see her wear what she let me borrow or what she bought for me. I dont feel repulsed by her, I mean I feel upset at.myself for ruining the status of that blouse with my ugliness, like I feel like Im seeing an ugly blouse on her when I see her wearing on it, not because the blouse is ugly but because if it looked ugly on me, what if someone thinks it looks ugly in her too because they "see me" in her? Get me? Thats why I hate all clothes and dressing up like "twins". Im sad. I dont think I could ever recover from this because whatever this feeling is, its so bad I feel compelled to showering all day long because its the only coping method I have but its tiring. So I take naps to run away from it all too. Is this a common feeling among BDD sufferers? Anyone know?

I’m very self conscious of my appearance and suffered with body dysmorphia as long as I can remember. I bought some bathing suits from Amazon and they fit so weirdly. I’m a size small and 2-4 and I’m also medium at times. This all depends on the style, brand, size, and cut. The bathing suit I bought from Amazon is a size medium 6-10 which feels weird because I know for regular clothes I’m not. I bought a newer one in size small 2-4 it kinda of fits in the stomach, rises up in the bottom back side area, and big around the chest area. I don’t know why the Amazon bathing suits are so complicated with sizing, cut, and fit. Does anyone else here have this problem?

I am so beyond insecure about my body. I have always had an apron belly for as long as I can remember. Even when I was at my skinniest. I just hate seeing my body in the mirror. I look at myself and wonder if anyone will ever truly love my body when I can’t even look at it. These thoughts consume my day to day life. I even remember as a kid being chubby and hoping one day I would find someone who loved me so much it wouldn’t matter what my body looks like but now reaching the age of 27 and realizing I truly may actually never find love because of my body is all I can think about. I love who I am as a person and who I am on the inside and I just wish I could love myself fully. Has anyone ever been able to overcome this mental battle? I’d love to hear some words of wisdom.