Körperdysmorphe Störung

Abstract

Patients with body dysmorphic disorder have the overvalued idea or delusional conviction that a part of the body is disfigured although it objectively looks normal or shows signs of only minor anomalies. They are suffering from the distressing feeling of being ugly and therefore being at the centre of other people's scorn and disdain. They usually have serious problems in personal relationships and social performance. In differential diagnosis a developmental crisis in adolescence, an early beginning schizophrenic process, a monosymptomatic paranoid disorder or a severe depressive disorder must be considered. Patients with body dysmorphic complaints more often show up in dermatological or cosmetic surgical departments than in psychiatric hospitals. A careful consultive psychiatric evaluation must be made when there is a request for cosmetic corrective surgery.