– You do not necessarily feel less valuable, but you feel worse than others, says Daniel Thaule Jacobsen. The 20-year-old explains what it was like to have dysmorphophobia (BDD). BDD is a mental illness where you think something is defective or ugly in your own appearance, and spend considerable time on it. Many people may be dissatisfied with features of their own appearance, but the difference is that people with BDD can spend so much time on it that it limits life. There may also be defects that are imaginary. For Jacobsen, it all started with him feeling too small and thin. He started training to build muscle, but quickly began to compare himself to others. Looking in the mirror is a big part of dysmorphophobia, and with a gym full of them, it’s hard to avoid. Photo: Sikke Kvål / NRK Influenced by social media In recent times, social media has abounded with videos and photos that have the subject tag «bodydysmorphia», which is the English word for the disorder. Social media is also a lot of the reason why Jacobsen thinks he developed BDD. – It costs a lot, and then you get constant reminders that you do not feel as good as you should feel. Everything looks so much sicker online, he says. Psychologist specialist Bjarne Kristian Aaslie Hansen suspects that social media is much of the reason why more people get dysmorphophobia. Bjarne Kristian Aaslie Hansen works with the treatment of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Photo: Håvard Kallestad He also points out that it is difficult to know how many have it, since there are very few who seek help from a psychologist. Instead, many choose to visit clinics for plastic surgery and the like. Hansen is himself the head of the “Clinic for 4-day treatment”, a clinic that treats anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He is concerned about the development of the disorder BDD. – It is a clear experience that there is an increase in this problem. Everything we see in social media means that people tend to think more about their appearance, and there is a risk that more people may lose control, he says. According to the International OCD Foundation, about 1 in 50 people suffer from BDD. They also write on their websites that the disorder is more common than anorexia and schizophrenia. Lack of treatment The psychologist specialist believes that the treatment offer for BDD in Norway is very poor. – It is incredibly sad because these are people who are in deep need. They could have done much better with the right treatment, says Hansen. Hansen says there is no specific training to treat the disorder. What feels natural to do will not work for most patients. – A lot of the challenge is that many people want to help by saying that it is normal or that you are great, but it does not have much effect. What has an effect is to help them spend as little time as possible on it, says Hansen. Training has become a big part of Daniel Thaule Jacobsen’s everyday life. Photo: Sikke Kvål / NRK Get rid of the bad thoughts Daniel Thaule Jacobsen, like most people with the disorder, sought no treatment. For him, it was about understanding that this was his training journey, and that he thus had to stop comparing himself with others. He finally got away from the bad thoughts. – It was not just one day and then it was over. It took a few years. I still struggle a bit with it and do not feel perfect every day. But I have understood that this is my journey, he concludes.
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Fears dark numbers for the body disorder dysmorphophobia – NRK Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
