Screening for Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) before undergoing a cosmetic procedure (for professionals)

Body Dysmorphic Disorder is  a psychiatric condition whch is characterized by obsessive and destructive preoccupation of minor visible defects; it affects in 93% of cases the skin and in other cases, the eyes, facial features such as the nose or excessive body weight.

Cosmetic treatments are sought more frequently and invariably lead in this condition to more treatments (such as polyrhinoplasty), dissatisfaction, depression and suicide. Indeed 80% of individuals having this disorder think about terminating their lives. It is striking how patients with Body dysmorphic disorder have a procrastinate deluded perception of minor cutaneous features. It is therefore not surprising that these patients make it to aesthetic treatment providers.

The conclusion is that the proportion of patients with Body dysmorphic disorder is higher in dermatology than most specialties, rising even higher in an aesthetic setting (almost 30% according to us). Because of this screening for body dysmorphic disorder should be done for every patient wanting to go for a cosmetic procedure.

An “easy-to-fill” questionnaire has been tested by us. The abstract of the article containing it can be read by clicking on the link below:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19590172?dopt=Abstract

This advice is for informational purposes  only and does not replace therapeutic judgement done by a skin doctor.