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BDD or a fear of…

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BDD or a fear of…

Postby Marvo1404 » Wed Apr 19, 2023 6:15 am

Is your BDD basically just a fear of being ugly? i.e. you worry and are self conscious of perceived flaws that you believe are ugly or people will judge you as ugly for? Are you self conscious and hate being seen because you fear people thinking you are ugly?
If so doesn’t BDD actually not target the real fear but is stuck focusing on one of the bi products of the fear?
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Re: BDD or a fear of…

Postby Marvo1404 » Sat Apr 22, 2023 5:48 am

Just to expand on my last sentence from my original post, for example no one has BDD (have a distorted negative image) of parts of our appearance that we like and feel are attractive. But a perceived flaw that we believe makes us ugly or may be seen as ugly to others we are so distressed and self conscious over. I think most will aim to hide the flaw whether by avoiding being seen, using a safety behaviour such as covering the flaw by using one’s hand or piece of clothing in order to protect themselves from being seen as ugly.
I think BDD has been incorrectly defined and understood by professionals and writers. I have two BDD books from Gillian Butler and Dr Veale. Neither book has any mention of a fear of being ugly.
I absolutely believe BDD (the preoccupation, distress, obsessive checking, thinking a flaw is horrific) all is a bi product of a fear of being and/or being seen as ugly.
I believe BDD will never be overcome whilst one fears being or being seen as ugly. By actually working on BDD (the obsession of a perceived flaw) you are doing nothing to address the actual fear of being ugly, you are simply working on the bi product. It’s like if you have a fear of spiders and if you see one you panic and leave the room, would you address your fear of spiders by working on tackling the bi product of the fear - ie leaving the room and panicking? That does not target what is triggering the behaviour.
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