Nevertheless, the Q’eqchi’ women also showed the greatest distortion in their own body perception, estimating their physique to be slimmer than it actually was. It is thought this could be due to a lack of access to body monitoring tools such as mirrors, scales, technology, and clothing choices, but in this instance, body distortion does not seem to influence body satisfaction. This has also been shown in groups of lower-income African American women, where the acceptance of larger bodies is not necessarily equivalent to positive body image.Similar studies have noted a high prevalence of BDD in East Asian societies, where facial dissatisfaction is especially common, indicating that this is not just a Western phenomenon. Diagnosis
Estimates of prevalence and gender distribution have varied widely via discrepancies in diagnosis and reporting. In American psychiatry, BDD gained diagnostic criteria in the DSM-IV, having been historically unrecognized, only making its first appearance in the DSM in 1987, but clinicians knowledge of it, especially among general practitioners, is constricted. Meanwhile, shame about having the bodily concern, and fear of the stigma of vanity, makes many hide even having the concern.Via shared symptoms, BDD is commonly misdiagnosed as social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, or social phobia. Social anxiety disorder and BDD are highly comorbid (within those with BDD, 12–68.8% also have SAD; within those with SAD, 4.8-12% also have BDD), developing similarly in patients -BDD is even classified as a subset of SAD by some researchers.
The self-verification theory, explains how individuals use selfies to gain verification from others through likes and comments. Social media may therefore trigger ones misconception about their physical look. Similar to those with body dysmorphic tendencies, such behavior may lead to constant seeking of approval, self-evaluation and even depression.In 2019 systematic review using Web of Science, PsycINFO, and PubMed databases was used to identify social networking site patterns. In particular appearance focused social media use was found to be significantly associated with greater body image dissatisfaction. It is highlighted that comparisons appear between body image dissatisfaction and BDD symptomatology. They concluded that heavy social media use may mediate the onset of sub-threshold BDD.Individuals with BDD tend to engage in heavy plastic surgery use. In 2018, the term "Snapchat Dysmorphia" was brought to life after several plastic surgeons reported that some of their patients were seeking plastic surgeries to mimic "filtered" pictures. Filtered photos, such as those on Instagram and Snapchat, often present unrealistic and unattainable looks that may be a causal factor in triggering BDD. A Socio-Cultural Perspective
Historically, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) was originally coined “Dysmorphophobia”, a term which was widely applied in research literature among the Japanese, Russians, and Europeans. However, in American literature, the appearance of BDD was still overlooked in the 1980’s. It was introduced in the DSM-III by the APA, and the diagnostic criteria was not properly defined, as the non-delusional and delusional factors were not separated.