BDD

[mementomori]

do you think body dysmoprhia and being trans go hand in hand , i.e obssesing over things that arent even wrong or a flaw things that arent " mauscline " if your mtf or arent " feminine" if your ftm ?

[Jeneva]

I think the definition of GID for a transsexual includes BDD.

Here is the ICD-10 code for transsexualism

A desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by a sense of discomfort with, or inappropriateness of, one's anatomic sex, and a wish to have surgery and hormonal treatment to make one's body as congruent as possible with one's preferred sex.

[Sephirah]

My personal view is yes and no.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is defined by the DSM-IV-TR (a handbook for mental health professionals) as a condition marked by excessive preoccupation with an imaginary or minor defect in a facial feature or localized part of the body. The diagnostic criteria specify that the condition must be sufficiently severe to cause a decline in the patient's social, occupational, or educational functioning. The most common cause of this decline is the time lost in obsessing about the "defect." The DSM-IV-TR assigns BDD to the larger category of somatoform disorders, which are disorders characterized by physical complaints that appear to be medical in origin but that cannot be explained in terms of a physical disease, the results of substance abuse, or by another mental disorder.

From: http://www.minddisorders.com/A-Br/Body-dysmorphic-disorder.html

Speaking for myself, the dysphoria stems from the fact that, as part of a larger whole, my body isn't that of someone I see myself to be. There isn't one localised part that causes these feelings. There are many localised parts, leading to a generalised feeling of the whole thing needing to be changed. I don't think that's quite the same.

However, I can see situations where, once undergoing transition, people can get feelings similar to those of BDD with regards to parts of their body that aren't... how to put it... changing fast enough. Breast size, for example, or the shape of their hips, width of their wrists, waist, facial features etc. But I'm not sure I'd call them imaginary or minor defects.

[Jeneva]

From: http://www.minddisorders.com/A-Br/Body-dysmorphic-disorder.html

The DSM-IV-TR assigns BDD to the larger category of somatoform disorders, which are disorders characterized by physical complaints that appear to be medical in origin but that cannot be explained in terms of a physical disease, the results of substance abuse, or by another mental disorder.

Interesting....  Doesn't BDD itself say that GID suffers do not have BDD because those complaints are caused by GID (currently classes as another mental disorder).

[Sephirah]

Interesting....  Doesn't BDD itself say that GID suffers do not have BDD because those complaints are caused by GID (currently classes as another mental disorder).

It seems that way, yes.

I always took BDD to be an obsession with a body part not measuring up to an ideal of what it should be in the context of being the same sex as the one you're born as. Not seeing it as something which shouldn't be there at all, or significantly different, in the context of being the opposite sex to what you were born as. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but it kinda makes more sense.

[mementomori]

"somatoform disorders, which are disorders characterized by physical complaints that appear to be medical in origin but that cannot be explained in terms of a physical disease, the results of substance abuse, or by another mental disorder."

is this in referance to people who have body pains etc that are physological in origin or also physical systems like say " phanton pregnancy " that are brought on by physcological origins ?

[Sephirah]

is this in referance to people who have body pains etc that are physological in origin or also physical systems like say " phanton pregnancy " that are brought on by physcological origins ?

Yeah, also known as Psychosomatic disorders.

[JoanneB]

By definition, being trans means you have body image issues. What you see aint what you want to! Pick your attribute(s) to pick on.

A teen member of my group is diagnosed as having BDD, almost to the point of being anorexic. Like me, even though we both dropped at a minimum 50 to 100 lbs, we cannot help but to see great gobs of fat hanging off our bodies. (Which I know is true in my case, just as I am sure she is sure in hers though no else can). Being trans, no doubt there are body and especially self esteem issues, certainly in my case and I suspect hers.

[Kelly-087]

Honestly, Yeah  have it.

I look in the mirror, and reconcile that Im not that fat. But I step away, look down and I see fatness.

I'd be fine with a slightly meaty body if it looked like a womans. But not until then.

[mementomori]

Honestly, Yeah  have it.

I look in the mirror, and reconcile that Im not that fat. But I step away, look down and I see fatness.

I'd be fine with a slightly meaty body if it looked like a womans. But not until then.

me too i used to be upset and obssesed about minor details , like looking to see if my ears were a few millimetres unblanced on each side of the the tissue is slightly different , or id my nostrils are slightly different or get upset about eye height being slightly different and check in the mirror / obssses over stuff like that that is pretty much normal becaue noones body is completely symetrical
not as bad as i used to be though

[Siobhan]

I'm absolutely like that. I made a thread about it once here too. I always get convinced im fat, have a really ugly face, or that my shoulders/hands/ribcage is too big, or my hips are tiny etc.
I now recognise that my own opinion of how I look is too skewed to be relied upon at all, I literally dont trust my own eyes, I can look in a mirror and it can be like an optical illusion switching back and forth, where I see one thing then another.
Its starting to ease off a little, since I started hrt.