Dysmorphophobia: can cosmetic surgery be the solution?
Disorder with onset in adolescence due to an imagined defect in one’s physical appearance. People with this phobia consider cosmetic surgery.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder or dysmorphophobia results from a preoccupation with an imagined defect in one’s physical appearance. People with this condition tend to obsessively examine and modify a specific part of the body. It is a mental problem related to the need for an aesthetic treatment for a problem considered to be of a physical nature. Those with Body Dysmorphic Disorder tend to seek cosmetic treatments for their defects as opposed to psychiatric interventions.
Cosmetic surgery has become very popular in recent years. Medical treatments appear to improve the symptoms of Body Dysmorphic Disorder in both the short and long term. On the other hand, however, if the patient has unrealistic expectations about the result of the intervention, then dissatisfaction can occur. Sometimes, even if the patient has had multiple surgeries. In most cases it seems that patients shift their concern to a new part of the body they consider to be defective. That’s why surgery can’t be a cure.
At the nervous system level, neurobiological abnormalities have been found in individuals with Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Thus, cognitive behavioral therapy is currently the most effective treatment for this disorder. Another valid option may be the pharmacological one .
