| (1) Are you worried about your appearance in any way? Or are you unhappy with how you look?
(2) If the patient replies affirmatively, proceed as you would with any other illness, asking the patient to tell you about their concerns
(3) Ask if there are other body areas that they do not like
(4) Next, ascertain that the patient is preoccupied with those perceived flaws by asking “how much time would you estimate that you spend each day thinking about your appearance, if you were to add up all the time you spend? Or do these thoughts preoccupy you?
(5) Ask “how much distress do these concerns cause you?” after the patient replies, ask more specifically whether the concerns cause anxiety, social anxiety, depression, panic, or suicidal thinking
(6) Ask about effects of the appearance preoccupation on the patient’s life. After the patient replies, ask more specifically about effects on
(i) Work
(ii) School
(iii) Social life
(iv) Any other aspects
(7) While BDD behaviors are not required for the diagnosis, most patients perform at least one of them (usually many), and it is important to ask about the common ones: camouflaging, comparing, mirror checking, excessive grooming, seeking reassurance, touching the body areas, clothes changing, skin picking, tanning, dieting, excessive exercise, and excessive weightlifting |
|
|
