Social Media Use: A Driving Force Of Disordered Body Image?

Abstract

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a condition that has been investigated and studied relatively more in the western world. Enrico Morselli, an Italian psychiatrist in 1891, first described this disorder as one in which people perceive themselves as flawed but have no apparent physical deformities and further termed it “Dysmorphophobia”[1]  According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-5), individuals with this disorder have recurring, time-consuming, intrusive, persistent thoughts about the perceived flaw in their physical appearance thereby causing significant distress or anxiety. The incessant preoccupation with one’s own appearance as severely flawed warrants exceptional measures to hide or fix it. As a result, these individuals engage excessively in time-consuming rituals such as reassurance seeking, mirror gazing, or mental acts like comparing with others[2] (Vaele D et al). The core beliefs in BDD appear to focus more on the unacceptability of self.