Diagnosing ugly people with BDD is cruel

I'm so sick of psychiatrists failing to distinguish between legitimate ugliness and imagined ugliness. By failing to make this distinction, they incorrectly diagnose thousands of people with BDD and end up making their lives worse.

The fact of the matter is that beauty is overwhelmingly objective: It comes down to the symmetry of your facial halves and the proportions of your facial landmarks. That's it -- there's hardly any subjectivity involved in interpreting beauty.

I should also add that attractiveness plays an enormous role in determining the quality of one's life (duh!). Therefore, people who are legitimately ugly have every reason to be distraught over their appearance. They have every reason to be depressed and -- depending on the severity of their ugliness -- suicidal. I firmly believe that in some cases of incorrigible ugliness, death is a realistic option.

What legitimately ugly people need is not counseling but surgery. Cosmetic surgery doesn't perform miracles, but it can provide significant and objective improvements to one's facial appearance. Someone with a wide, humped, crooked nose would probably benefit much more from a quality rhinoplasty than therapy. Unlike therapy, surgery treats the problem (unattractive facial features), not the symptoms (depression and anxiety over appearance).

So if you are readings this, I implore you: Be skeptical of BDD. If you are legitimately ugly, then your best option is to correct what is making you unattractive. If after correcting these problems you still believe you are ugly, then perhaps you should seek a counselor. But do NOT be lured by the comforting diagnosis of BDD, which seems to suggest that no one is ugly. That's a fairy tale.

Hi,

Do you suffer from bdd?

I don't mean to be rude but I think your post is very insensitive. I'm not sure what your aim was in posting it, maybe you could clarify this? If you are looking for support then we are more than happy to help you out, but please remember there are people here who are dealing with some hard things and your post may be upsetting to some people.

Hahaahaha I'm going to have some fun with you.

First of all, this ugliness thing, it's subjective not objective. You see the world has this wonderful way of making certain things attractive to different people. Some people like blonde hair others prefer dark, ginger etc. Some people prefer men with a bit of body hair others prefer their men clean shaven.

THERE IS NOBODY IN THIS WORLD THAT EVERYBODY THINKS IS BEAUTIFUL, SIMILARLY THERE WILL BE NOBODY IN THIS WORLD THAT EVERYBODY IS NOT ATTRACTED TO.


Now i'm not sure where your going with your post, personally i think your out to get a few people upset, make them feel hopeless, but i'm going to wager that most people that read your post just like i have done will see what you have put as the type of crap some self obsessed jock would put up to troll people into replying and guess what? All your post is going to do is make people more determined to prove the likes of you wrong cos that's most definately what it's done to me!


So i thankyou very much kind sir, your post is actually quite ENLIGHTENING.

Katrinas-x wrote:I don't mean to be rude but I think your post is very insensitive. I'm not sure what your aim was in posting it, maybe you could clarify this? If you are looking for support then we are more than happy to help you out, but please remember there are people here who are dealing with some hard things and your post may be upsetting to some people.

My post is not insensitive -- it's a healthy dose of honesty and reality in a forum that desperately needs it.

I do not have BDD. I am an objectively ugly person. The two halves of my face look like they belong to two different people, my nose is huge, and my chin is recessed. My self-image is completely accurate.

I agree that a lot of people here are suffering (I'm one of them!). But what they are dealing with is not an irrational preoccupation with their looks but simply the pain of being ugly. They need surgery, not counseling.

twoface wrote:

Katrinas-x wrote:I don't mean to be rude but I think your post is very insensitive. I'm not sure what your aim was in posting it, maybe you could clarify this? If you are looking for support then we are more than happy to help you out, but please remember there are people here who are dealing with some hard things and your post may be upsetting to some people.

My post is not insensitive -- it's a healthy dose of honesty and reality in a forum that desperately needs it.

I do not have BDD. I am an objectively ugly person. The two halves of my face look like they belong to two different people, my nose is huge, and my chin is recessed. My self-image is completely accurate.

I agree that a lot of people here are suffering (I'm one of them!). But what they are dealing with is not a irrational preoccupation with their looks but simply the pain of being ugly. They need surgery, not counseling.

It's very insensitive and it is also triggering to people like myself! I now feel like crap so thank you!

I'm sorry you are struggling, and like I said if you need help with something then we are happy to help you, but otherwise please don't waste our time with cruel and insensitive comments! It's very unfair!!!

Rotherham wrote:Hahaahaha I'm going to have some fun with you.

First of all, this ugliness thing, it's subjective not objective. You see the world has this wonderful way of making certain things attractive to different people. Some people like blonde hair others prefer dark, ginger etc. Some people prefer men with a bit of body hair others prefer their men clean shaven.

THERE IS NOBODY IN THIS WORLD THAT EVERYBODY THINKS IS BEAUTIFUL, SIMILARLY THERE WILL BE NOBODY IN THIS WORLD THAT EVERYBODY IS NOT ATTRACTED TO.


Now i'm not sure where your going with your post, personally i think your out to get a few people upset, make them feel hopeless, but i'm going to wager that most people that read your post just like i have done will see what you have put as the type of crap some self obsessed jock would put up to troll people into replying and guess what? All your post is going to do is make people more determined to prove the likes of you wrong cos that's most definately what it's done to me!


So i thankyou very much kind sir, your post is actually quite ENLIGHTENING.

Your problem is that you have no idea what you are talking about.

Superficial features like hair color, eye color, skin color, facial hair do NOT determine attractiveness.

Attractiveness is determined by the bone structure of your skull, particularly the bilateral symmetry of your facial halves and the proportions between your features.

It has been well documented that humans are attracted to facial symmetry. Without exception, we perceive symmetrical faces as being more attractive, and the correlation between symmetry and attractiveness is very close to 1 (i.e., perfect correlation).

So if think you're ugly, it's almost certainly because your face is asymmetrical or your proportions are off, and these characteristics can be objectively measured.

twoface wrote:

Katrinas-x wrote:I don't mean to be rude but I think your post is very insensitive. I'm not sure what your aim was in posting it, maybe you could clarify this? If you are looking for support then we are more than happy to help you out, but please remember there are people here who are dealing with some hard things and your post may be upsetting to some people.

My post is not insensitive -- it's a healthy dose of honesty and reality in a forum that desperately needs it.

I do not have BDD. I am an objectively ugly person. The two halves of my face look like they belong to two different people, my nose is huge, and my chin is recessed. My self-image is completely accurate.

I agree that a lot of people here are suffering (I'm one of them!). But what they are dealing with is not a irrational preoccupation with their looks but simply the pain of being ugly. They need surgery, not counseling.

Err, yes it is.

Healthy? Telling people to get surgery is healthy?????

Who are you to say that's what people need? Seriously man what the hell are going for here?

See here's where you are wrong with your whole symmetry theory. According to test I've done online etc my face is 97% symmetrical, the angles of my facial features are almost perfect and the spacing of my facial features is almost perfect but I still think I am ugly!

BDD is all in a persons mind, it's a distorted image we see!

Katrinas-x wrote:See here's where you are wrong with your whole symmetry theory. According to test I've done online etc my face is 97% symmetrical, the angles of my facial features are almost perfect and the spacing of my facial features is almost perfect but I still think I am ugly!

BDD is all in a persons mind, it's a distorted image we see!

How did you measure your facial symmetry? This website: http://www.symmeter.com/? If so, then your numbers mean nothing.

Anyway, it is possible to be ugly while being symmetrical (because your proportions could be off).

What facial features bother you? Also, would you mind posting a link to a picture of someone who you believe looks like you?

People with asymettrical faces who are considered ATTRACTIVE;

Rachel Leigh Cook
Naomi Watts
Shannen Doherty
Owen Wilson
Paris Hilton
Marisa Tomei
Alana de la Garza


I don't think any of them need surgery, and they don't seem to be having any problems either.


And my PROBLEM is that you come on a forum, where vulnerable people come on, and in a position of extreme responsibility you denounce BDD and say that all people who consider themselves ugly are in fact ugly and should have their faces 'corrected' by surgery.

How would you feel if somebody who read this lost all hope and killed themselves all for your little kicks you selfish individual?