 Hey Psych2Goers! Body dysmorphic disorder is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder that focuses on the body and is characterized by cognitive symptoms such as perceived flaws in physical appearance. For some people, there may be certain parts of their body that they're embarrassed or shamed about, to the point that it causes them great anxiety and distress. Here are five points that may indicate that you have body dysmorphia. 1. You have frequent, critical thoughts about your physical appearance when it's not noticeable by others. Have you ever spent countless hours telling yourself that you're not good-looking or attractive? The first sign of body dysmorphic disorder is an obsession with perceived flaws in physical appearance when it's not observable to others. Despite your friends not noticing anything wrong and doctors telling you that everything looks alright, you may still see some parts of your body as deformed or ugly. 2. You perform repetitive behaviors or mental acts. Have you spent an unusually long amount of time looking at yourself in the mirror because you worry about your appearance? Another sign of body dysmorphia is spending an excessive amount of time looking into mirrors, surfaces, or cameras to check on these perceived flaws. These negative thoughts about your physical appearance may manifest themselves into a repetitive need to compulsively check on how you look or to compare your body image to others. 3. Your obsessions and compulsions cause you significant distress. As the anxiety about your body image started to impact other areas of your life, maybe the distress you feel distracts you from doing your schoolwork to the point of lowering your grades or you've stopped going into work on time. A key feature that determines whether a behavior is diagnosed as a mental disorder is when the behavior starts to significantly distress or impair different areas of your life. It's a sign if these obsessions and compulsions prevent you from spending time with your friends or family or when it stops you from going to work. 4. You think that other people mock you for how you look. Do you think other people are judging you for how you look when you're out? While this is not a diagnostic criterion of body dysmorphic disorder, it is common in people with this disorder. The thought that others take notice of your appearance and mock you for how you look even without any evidence is called a delusion of reference, and it could lead to feelings of intense distress. 5. You do not meet the criteria for an eating disorder. Do you suffer from an eating disorder? In order to be diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder, you cannot meet the criteria for any eating disorder, which includes anorexia, binge eating disorder, and others. As emphasized earlier, people with body dysmorphic disorder have perceived physical flaws, that is, they think they look terrible when it's objectively not the case to others. This preoccupation with their appearance may make it feel as if their self-worth is completely dependent on how they look. Do you know someone who might be suffering from body dysmorphia? How many of these signs sound familiar to you? Tell us about it in the comments below. If you found this video helpful, please like and share it with others. Don't forget to subscribe to Psych2Go and hit the notification bell icon for more content. All the references used are also added in the description box below. Thank you for watching, and we'll see you in our next video.