Body Dysmorphic Disorder. A social issue or disruption of information processing?

Seminar paper from the year 2019 in the subject Psychology - Clinic and Health Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, grade: 2,0, Hochschule für Medien, Kommunikation und Wirtschaft, language: English, abstract: This paper will present body dysmorphic disorder, its features and causes, and specifically investigate the visual processing abnormalities of BDD patients. Possible modes of onset for BDD are very broad and can be categorized into biological, psychological, and social risk factors. The following paper investigates how both social issues (such as the social comparison processes resulting from social media) and visual abnormalities are underlying modes of onset for BDD patients.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental disorder characterized by distressing or impairing preoccupations with detrimental self-described defects in appearance. These self-prescribed defects lead to an onset of highly restrictive body image concerns in BDD patients which are not usually visible to others. Multiple examples in this literature review highlight the basics of body image perspectives and modern influences on BDD afflicted patients.