How To Escape the Beauty Panopticon

Wellness vs Pubmed Vol. 5: What we can learn from the literature on body dysmorphia and body image to help us enjoy exercise more

There’s a saying attributed to C.S. Lewis about the virtue of humility, and I often think of it when I think about my patients who struggle with body image.

“Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less.”

If I could sum up what the goal of treatment for Body Dysmorphic Disorder is, it would be that—simply thinking about how one appears less often.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (or BDD) lives in the chapter of the DSM5 entitled, “OCD and Related Disorders.” For anyone who has BDD or OCD, or knows someone who does, it is readily apparent that the pain of these conditions is from how often images, thoughts, and emotion intrude upon one’s day-to-day life. Living with BDD after an effective treatment doesn’t necessarily mean never have self-critiquing thoughts or insecurities again, but that the amount of life it takes up is reduced to a much smaller portion.