[Dianna1395]

Good morning,
I was just doing a little research here, and surfing from one topic to another, I found Body Dysmorphic Disorder. (Trail was: http://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-t...men-issues to a link on Somatization -> to a link on BDD)
I'd bumped into BDD before, but mostly understood it to be related to eating, food, weighlifting. Men wanted to be Superman, women wanted to be Barbie, and then psychological issues developed from there. That basic level of understanding.
So I ended up here:
http://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-t...0%28BDD%29

[...] Individuals with BDD usually experience dissatisfaction related to specific parts of their bodies, such as facial features, hair, or genitalia, rather than dissatisfaction with overall shape, size, or weight, as is often experienced by those diagnosed with an eating disorder. Further, people with BDD may become so uncomfortable with the thought of others noticing perceived flaws that attempt to cover them with clothing or makeup. In some cases, those with BDD may avoid social contact altogether and refuse to leave their homes. Nearly half of all individuals diagnosed with BDD will seek plastic surgery to correct perceived defects.

So, I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with this? I specifically noted the "dissatisfaction related to specific parts of their bodies, such as facial features, hair, or genitalia," - all of which apply to me. The question then is, is Trans* part of this? Is there a criteria for defining a difference? Has anyone here had the same issue, and found a way to either live with it, or solve it (other than the on-topic criteria here, which is more related to transition in a social sense, or growing breasts to make the body more physically match the mind's idea of what we should look like.)

I'm having SEVERE issues here, as anyone who's read my posts will know. Part of it is stress, from work and from maintaining a fraudulent relationship (I want her to leave, she doesn't know, I must play-act to keep the peace.) Part of it is from being an introvert (98th percentile of I) - and living in an environment with multiple LOUD extroverts.
The issue of gender is there, too, but I'm usually distracted from the rest of what's happening.
Which also loops in Energy. As in, as we get older, we have less, which also speaks to "mid-life crisis" and the NEED for transition.

I've been facing a sudden, unexpected, WTF issue of my own - STRENGTH. As in, it's GONE. My lifts are down, I'm NOT doing any supplements, and I'm trying to rebuild my body. Aside from sleep, I seem to be doing OK (there's a question about not eating enough - I don't think I'm eating 4,000 calories or so a day, and targeting 2,000 should be good for Weight Loss - not necessarily FAT loss. TBD... Food Journal backs up eating to about 2500 kcals/day, but weighing 240, plus working out? Maybe an issue.)

So if anyone has experience dealing with BDD, or even just thoughts, I'd love to hear about it. If concerned about getting OT, PM me, we can keep it off board so not to muddy things.

I appreciate any insights or thoughts anyone has.

-Dianna

[-Tasha-]

don't know much on the subject but I feel that transgender and bbd are two separate things, though BBD often comes from being transgender.

I mean, I have some body issues. Being too tall is probably the main offender but I'm not impossibly tall for a woman so I wouldn't consider that directly linked to gender dysphoria. It's just because I'm transgender that it upsets me sometimes in the way the article describes. It's not as big a problem as it was. I've kind of gotten over it though it can get bad during those times I just want to blend in.

Saying that, I have short friends who complains as much as I do about their height. ^_^ I read somewhere that one of the most female traits is hating some aspect of your body. I guess it doesn't usually get bad enough to be described as a disorder. Then again, women do wear make up, or push up bras, or dye their hair which is kind of the thing the article talks about. Men often feel that way too but for different things. Surprised it says only 1 in 200 suffer from it to be honest. I guess it has to be a more extreme feeling than what's generally felt by the population.

Sorry, I'm just thinking out loud. Don't know if I have much in the way of advice on dealing with it. Wish I did. It's so easy to say accept your body and love yourself but without a method it can be pretty tricky. I have some friends who are big on 'body positivity' which is popular on Instagram and Tumblr ^_^ They might be good communities to look in to. And this comic popped up in my feed the other day. Made me a little weepy :') but in a good way.

http://viralwomen.com/post/this_frida_ka...re_awesome

[polymorphis]

Hi Dianna,

your notion about possible connection between body dysmorphic disorder and transgender issues is interesting. But according to current level of understanding those are different clinical entities.

Without digging too deep into psychopathology, let's just say that different psychiatric symptoms can appear in different individuals to different extent and it doesn't have to mean that exact individual suffers from mental disorder. In fact, symptoms like anxiety, sad mood, obsessive thoughts, are an integral part of normal human experience. In mental disorders, symptoms are present in such extent that they impair normal functioning of an individual. Moreover, symptoms usually appear in specific clusters (syndromes). To make things more complicated, some mental disorders ("diagnoses") can share symptoms with another disorders. For example obsessive thoughts are usually thought to be just a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but obsessive thoughts are prominent in broad range of different disorders, for example anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders etc.

Body dysmorphic disorder is, according to International Classification of Disorders 10th edition, subset of hypochondriac disorder. It revolves about appearance of specific part of the body. Basically, the main symptom is body image impairment. But as I have stated before, specific symptoms can appear in different conditions or in otherwise healthy individuals as well. So body image impairment is the symptom that may appear for example in eating disorders or sexual identity disorders, but it is not the most important feature.

Now, I don't know enough to give you any advice, but from your description I would guess you may show some of the symptoms of depression (like lassitude, sleep problems). I don't say that you are suffering from depressive disorder or that you should take antidepressants. Some depressive or anxiety symptoms can appear as a reaction to stress. In that case, solving underlying problems should help. If your symptoms get any worse, however, maybe you should consider seeking a counsel from a psychotherapist...

[Dianna1395]

Thank you for the responses.
Somewhat helpful, I was thinking along similar lines - BDD isn't necessarily Trans, but Trans likely has aspects of BDD.

Not helping me, necessarily... ;-)

Also found some interesting info here:
http://www.fathersforlife.org/dale/childind.html

I won't derail the forum, but a few things are jumping out:
1. The samples are all homosexual; some are effeminate, some have GID. Numbers not presented.
2. Source's bias is not known. IE,. is it merely data? Did the researchers have an agenda (Pro or Anti is irrelevant, both skew data.)
3. A certain pattern emerges, which has also been discussed in the Manosphere: Dominant and/or Distant father (Authoritarian); Inappropriate relation with mother (Termed emotional incest occasionally.)
I know that #3 happened, but I also know I'm not interested in men. I can understand why a woman would want to be with a man, but even seeing myself as a female, I just... Can't. :-)

The mind being what it is, on other boards - I read about people who have essentially altered their sexuality. Don't believe it's fully "built from nothing," but I do believe it can be done (happened with me - Went from being repulsed by men, to being only mildly annoyed. I'm guessing pr0n functioning as a sort of immersion therapy.)

Going to look into the page a bit more, see if I can "correct" a bunch of issues that way.
Dad was an entrepreneur, and made a fairly successful business - but was a bully in a lot of ways, and socially maladapted. Even moreso for the late 20th century.
And Mom definitely leaned on me as a surrogate husband a few times, emotionally. (Plato made note of this as a feature of woman; I think it's more a matter of timing and degree, than an oddity. When a woman's husband dies, she leans on her son. Normal. When her husband, in middle age, is immersed in his life and building a company, and she has a close relationship with a son, whom she treats more as a confidante than a son, and whose masculine impulses she has censured...? Both mother and father are emasculating the boy, in different ways - and what's left for the son? How to grow? How to identify himself (or even herself, for someone who IS genetically TG?) TBD. )

I followed up on the biggest item blocking therapy, which I can control
(there's a few thousand reasons I have issues which I cannot control at the moment... Thank you Obamacare! Mandatory purchasing drives prices up, but how can you expect an oligarch feeding from the public trough to know economics?)
Anyway, that other issue...? Sig Sauer Academy class, purchased as a Christmas gift. And ... It's going to expire, while all the classes before the expiration are full. :-P
The downward spiral ain't done with me yet...

-Dianna