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About
Description
History of BDD
Theories of Causes
Personal Accounts
Glossary of Terms
FAQ
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I've
read contradictory information on the history of BDD. If I remember
correctly, most information insists that the disorder has been
recorded for over a century, and was first documented in 1886
by the researcher Morselli, who gave it the initial title Dysmorphophobia.
It makes you wonder how the media could play much of a role in
causing BDD, if television and movies weren't even around back
then! Body Dysmorphic Disorder was first recognized as a distinct
condition in 1987 by the American Psychiatric Association.
I've read elsewhere that BDD was first recorded over a hundred
years ago by Emil Kraepelin, a German living in the late 1800s
who could be credited as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry,
psychopharmacology and psychiatric genetics. He believed in biological
causes of disorders and greatly opposed Freud's psychoanalytic
methods. In my opinion, both Freud and Kraepelin had good theories,
and they don't have to stand entirely separate. Psychological
problems can be both biological and psychological, and neither
aspect should be neglected. Either way, Kraepelin considered BDD
a form of compulsive neurosis.
Pierre Janet, the founder of modern dynamic psychology living
in the late 1800s, called this body obsession de la honte de
corps, translated to obsession with shame of body.
Freud actually had a patient himself with BDD. His name was Sergei
Pankejeff, but he was nicknamed "the Wolf Man". This
person was so preoccupied with his nose, that he found it hard
to function outside of these obsessive thoughts. Since I'm studying
Freud at the moment, I'll try to get a copy of the original German
text as soon as possible, read it, and write up more information
on this subject.
BDD was supposedly widely recognized in Europe for some time,
but was first recognized as a typical somatoform disorder in the
DSM-III in the 1980s. They decided to rename the disorder from
dysmorphophobia to body dysmorphic disorder because they believed
the old term implied to the presence of a behavioral pattern of
public avoidance.
It's also recorded that many patients with BDD have other disorders
as well. Patients often have OCD, schizoid personality, or Narcissistic
Personality Disorder. I've heard of several other disorders that
often exist with BDD as well. In the future, I'll try to include
more information on these disorders as well. In the meantime,
you can find links to information on these disorders on the
links page. |
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