Topic : 07/04 Body Dysmorphia

if this girl doesnt have bbd then she does have a low self esteem. something that it seems you should also consider. theres no sense in putting her down. is there?

 dr.phil somethings wrong here these young ladys r hotties men would date them just 4 there looks i dont  understand this. diana is like a perfect 10 i would love 2 date someone who looks 1/2 as pretty as her.and she can e-mail me n e time.

I am really surprised that either of these ladies have issues with their looks.  Both Diana and Cheyenne are beautiful. 

 

I was rather surprised that Diana would have so many suicide attempts, but I think that her problems could be deeper than just her looks and this condition.  Especially with the horrible experience she suffered as a child.

 

Cheyenne has nothing to be self conscious about, regardless of whether she won or was first runner up in any beauty contest.  And putting a note on a locker sounds more like high school immaturity than anything else.

 

Hopefully both of Diana and Cheyenne can recieve the help they need and get their lives back in order.

 I feel sad to see Cheyenne and Diana think of themselves as less than beautiful...if possible I'd like to come to LA to tell them both that they are beautiful women...they truly need help in changing their attitude or else both could end up dead.  I pray that they will take the good doctor's advice and get that help.

Give me a break. Symptomatic of the self-absorbed superficial culture we live in. A product of too much time on your hands and trying to live like the articificial movie star and music idols. Want a sure cure? Go work as a volunteer in a rest home, VA hospital, or facility for severely disabled. See how sorry you feel for yourself then.

 

I was very amazed at today's guests, thinking that they are the ugly ones, walking around depressed mostly about their facial features. Well, if they are calling themselves ugly, then I must be the most beautiful woman on the earth.

 

Here is what I "truly" look like and what my body looks like : I recently had a double mastectomy about a year ago, now I walk around with breast that was augmented from borrowed fat from my belly. And, I do not have any nipples, YES that is corredct, NO NIPPLES. I also have a scar on my belly that extends from one hip to the other - sort of like a big closed-lipped smile. As far as my face, I have deep black spots that even make-up can't conceal. One day, while in the mall a small child asked me if bees has stung my face and asked if it hurt! Of course, her mom was red in the face, but I said it was ok, she's just a child. You want to feel hurt, just let a child voice their opinion; in public loud and clear, about someone who has visable flaws.

 

These women are being self-centered and have not really taken a look at the "other" world, the world where people are maimed and scarred to save their lives, but not for cosmetic reasons. What is so surprising to me, is that people who have plastic surgery on their faces looks worst than before they had the surgery. Keep what God has given you and stop trying to change yourselves to please the world, you have to please yourself first.

 

Lastly, I've never heard of this disorder, but I guess this is just another one to add to the books! What will be next??  

I completely agree with you! Kudos for you to point that out!

I'm sorry that Diana's sister doesn't understand. Of course she doesn't; she doesn't have body dysmorpic disorder! My dad, who passed on in 1990, had this before there was even a NAME for it! He ALWAYS thought his eyes were bulging & people could see it & that they were laughing at him. Even if a car passed us on the road & he saw the people in that car laughing, he truly thought they were laughing at HIM. Of course that sounds ridiculous, I realize that. But UNTIL those of you who don't believe this is a real disorder realize that it really, truly is a problem for some people, please, PLEASE don't judge these people!

 

My dad never got the help he needed. He was VERY withdrawn (although he was a wonderful dad & I still love him dearly & miss him), didn't like to be in public, & had a very difficult time socializing. My mom & I (& my brother when he was still at home; he was quiet like my dad & joined a Christian band when he was 17, left home, & then married at 19) went through very frustrating YEARS & YEARS trying to convince my dad that his eyes looked fine. When what we told him simply didn't work, it was SO difficult! Now I know that he COULDN'T help it! It didn't have a name in the 60s to the 80s; my dad was mentally ill since he was 19. And he knew he was mentally ill--he always turned it inward; he never hurt anyone at all. I don't know, though, if he knew intellectually that his eyes were fine.

Liz, please, PLEASE don't be so hard on your sister. She truly can't help it! Do you think she WANTS to feel that way? Of course not! I have gone through this & know how hard it is to deal with a family member who had BDD. We just didn't know what it was or that it even had a NAME. My dad was also clinically depressed, & he probably also had either a form of agoraphobia or social anxiety disorder. Plus he had very tormenting tinnitus---ringing in his ears; it just got louder as he got older & NEVER stopped (it was the result of a cherry bomb that went off near his ear on July 4 when I was a young girl; my uncle threw it & it went off before it was supposed to). My dad lived in mental agony from age 19 till his death at age 61.

 

Btw, my dad was NOT a manipulative person; he didn't want plastic surgery or anything like that. And he never attempted suicide that I know of, although my mom was fearful of that sometimes. And he also did NOT know what he had! And I was incredibly fearful as a young person that I would later BECOME like him. He also felt like he was an automaton; part of that was his medication for high blood pressure and for depression---and Prozac & those type of drugs (SSRIs) were available back then. He felt detached from life in a way---as if he were on the outside of his body looking at himself doing things. It's so difficult to explain. In the last year or so of his life, he couldn't even drive by himself. He just, for some reason, could NOT do it.

 

I really don't think my dad was abused in any way as a child. His parents were wonderful people who took care of my brother & me when both Mom & Dad were working. My dad, when he was able to work, worked as a night watchman---a solitary job. When he got laid off from his last job (he had a few, but if he wasn't completely alone on his job, he had a lot of trouble dealing with people around him, although he was an incredibly kind & very intelligent man. He gave me his love for learning. He taught me a lot about nature. I was Daddy's girl. His problems did bring up a few difficulties for me. I couldn't have friends over---my dad just couldn't handle that (although cousins was OK), and the thing I think affected me the most was that my dad wasn't strong enough emotionally for me to ask questions about life. I'm not describing this well; what I mean is that Mom, my brother, & I had to PROTECT Dad from anything that we thought would really upset him. He just couldn't handle it. In SO many ways, he was a wonderful dad, but he was also mentally ill. And that, of course, affected me & still affects me to some degree.

I'm 47 now. I don't have BDD & neither does my brother. I was always an outgoing person. I'm a bit shyer now & sometimes have problems with depression & anxiety, but the main reason for that is because I live with constant physical pain & profound fatigue---DAILY. I have ankylosing spondylitis (recently, finally diagnosed), fibromyalgia, TMJ syndrome, moderate asthma, multiple allergies, & I am sometimes anxious in social situations. Since I work from home very part-time as a freelance proofreader (since 1996), & I got ill (fibro & perhaps AS; I'm not sure when that started), I've been REALLY isolated just due to being ill & working from home.

 

One more thing: I had a panic attack when I was in a doctor's (internist) office in Feb. 2000. Because I was crying & couldn't stop (it was because he'd prescribed a drug that interacted with another med & gave me a couple of weird mental episodes---and he didn't realize it!), he put me in the hospital in the stress center! He didn't call my husband; he just sent me over to the hospital. I was so confused by that point---& hoping I might get some actual help from SOMEONE---ANYONE---in the hospital for my physical problems that I even signed the paper. Once they locked the door on me, THEN I went into true panic! I was scared my biggest fear had come true! My dad was in a sanitarium (mental hospital) in the late 40s & received shock treatments (that stole many of his memories before that time); his parents simply didn't know what else to do at that time. But that was the HORRID time to go to places like that! When my husband & mom came to see me in the hospital, I know I looked like a deer caught in the headlights. I couldn't tell them why. But I was in there with people who were suicidal AND homicidal!! It only made me feel SO much worse! After being in there 27 hours(!) & NOT seeing the internist (who had promised to come see me & didn't!), I finally (after walking around the halls telling the nurses, therapists that I was going to leave if I didn't see a doctor!) got to see the doc who ran that floor. He took one look at me & said, "You'd rather deal with this at home, wouldn't you?" YES! I only had 2 strange mental episodes; when I stopped that med, I stopped having that happen. It didn't happen before & hasn't happened since! And it was the LAST time I went to see that doctor!

Anyway, I know from YEARS of experience that you simply can't tell someone who has BDD that they look fine and that will fix it. It simply won't! Not if they truly have BDD. And not just girls have it. As I said, my dad had it before it had a name. And although I have some depression & anxiety at times (I had a lot of anxiety attacks for awhile after my dad died---I even went into therapy with a wonderful psychiatrist who helped me deal with my grief & even my marriage), I'm not like Dad. And he was a wonderful Christian man; our family---and I---believe strongly in heaven & the hereafter (Dad & I had many talks about heaven; I miss those talks). So I KNOW that my dad is healthy now in every way---and I'm so glad for him! Even though I miss him, I wouldn't want him to come back to what he dealt with in life. And I don't care what others think; I know I'll see Dad again. :)

Sorry I wrote so much. I'm a good proofreader; I'm just not concise when I write things! LOL :) Anyway, BDD is ABSOLUTELY REAL. Take it from someone who knows, who lived with it someone who had it for so many years. And don't be so judgmental; love others & try to be as caring & kind as you possibly can. It's not fake; it's very real. And the person who has it truly doesn't know how to make it stop. I'm just glad that BDD is finally recognized; I wish it had been when my dad was alive---maybe he'd have been able to get some treatment (he did see a psychiatrist for depression; she didn't know what the other stuff was since BDD wasn't known about then). Be kind, take care of each other, & don't forget to love people.

 

Everyone have a good week! :) I'm looking forward to hubby & I picking up our new Chihuahua pup (male) this Saturday! Now we have 2; it'll be 3 soon! :-D Can't wait to go bring Pippin home! :)

It is a brain disorder, period. You can not say this with NEVER knowing how this girl feels. (I say this because I agree with Dr. Phil, in that Cheyanne maybe has to work on her self esteem, where as Diana is at the other end of the spectrum and is suffering)..

 

I have BDD and am only recovering after 6 years. DO NOT sit there and act as though this is VANITY. I am proof it is not. PLEASE, be mature and know that ignorance will get you know where. Please know the facts before you go ranting about being "self-absorbed".....

I think anyone who has multiple procedures to "improve" their appearance when it's so obvious by simply looking at them that they do not need these dangerous and sometimes deadly procedures are suffering from mental illness....NOW don't go all bonkers on that remark!!!!  But seriously, they are suffering from some sort of mental disease and NEED to seek a mental health professional BEFORE they consent to ANY surgical procedure.