A cross sectional study to assess Awareness & Knowledge regarding body dysmorphic disorders (BDD) among students of a medical college in central India
Author(s): Raghav Janaswamy*, Pramita A Muntode, Guddi Laishram, Sunita Patel
Abstract
BDD (Body-dysmorphic disorder) is a somatoform psychological condition, within which the person forms a negative self-image with a' self-perceived defect. Diagnosis of BDD can be missed unless it is specifically asked to cancel out other differentials. BDD though not very rare often gets undiagnosed leading to it becoming a severe disability and is often associated with certain other conditions like OCD, anxiety, depression. With the advancement of technology, so has the use of social media, to the point where the typical individual spends the majority of their time on their devices on social-media platforms. It was common thinking that social media was the root cause for BDD that might not be true but it sure as one of the leading cause for causing BDD, Social medial easily creates an unnatural body image for people especially adolescents who are easily influenced into thinking if they don't have a certain physique they are not worthy of anything and leading to formation of poor body image in the minds of the patient hence leading to BDD. It is commonly found to be more common in females as compared to males. The diagnosis is made by following DSM V criteria of BDD. There are other diagnostic tools like screening measurement tools, severity measures, etc. Contrary to popular opinion Cosmetic surgery is not an absolute treatment for BDD; actually cosmetic surgery is contraindicated in patients with BDD. Treatment basically depends upon one of the 2 methods or a combination of two, CBT (cognitive based therapy) and SRI (serotonin reuptake inhibitor). Objective: The proposed study is planned to assess the awareness regarding Body dysmorphic disorder, its related condition, prevalence and treatment among medical students. Methods: A knowledge, awareness and perception study based on an online survey via Google form. Expected result: The analysis of data and appropriate statistical tests would give the result.