Messages By: jackiec751

 You are all so off the mark on this. BDD is not about vanity.
BDD is in the category of OCD's.  just as the anorexic looks in the mirror and sees fat, the person with BDD sees their reflection, and, in my case, sees a hideous freak.  I've had this disorder for many years and am now 57.  I have perfected the ability to almost never see my reflection.  I can fix my hair and put on makeup and not look at my face.  Consequently, if enough time passes that I don't see my face, I start to believe that I'm wrong, maybe I'm not a monster.  But then, I'll accidently see my reflection in a store window and am horrified.  I must immediately go home and pull the covers over my head while I berate myself for thinking I might be normal looking.  Not  beautiful mind you, just human looking.  BDD is also a very secret illness.  People don't often tell the people in their lives that they have it.  The few times I have, people simply couldn't grasp it.  It's just too strange.  One therapist I saw about it, suggested I use a drug  given to schzophrenics to control hallucinations.  I have no idea why my brain works this way.  But I can assure you it's not about beauty and ego.  It goes far beyond that.
Just because you don't experience it, and can't imagine experiencing it , doesn't invalidate it.  Have compassion.  Someone you know and love might be suffering in silence.