New research conducted by a team at University College London (UCL) has found that symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are strongly associated with feelings of shame.
In the study, 342 adults aged 18-30, some with BDD symptoms, were surveyed on BDD-related symptoms like shame, anxiety, low mood and adverse childhood experiences such as abuse, neglect, and bullying.
Following analysis, it was found that the relationship between BDD symptoms and shame was evident even when other negative emotions (anxiety and low mood) were considered. Symptoms of BDD were also found to be linked to the adverse childhood experiences, which are often tied up in shame. The researchers suggest that in some circumstances, shame from childhood experiences could potentially lead to future BDD symptoms.
One of the study participants shared, “Even when you remove the appearance based, body stuff, that shame is still really present. It just takes over you – the ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I’m not worthy’ thoughts – BDD just tells you you’re a horrific, horrific person.”
Dr Georgina Krebs, associate professor of young people’s mental health, commented, “We have known for a long time that people with BDD often experience high levels of shame, but this emotion is often overlooked and is rarely a focus in psychological therapy for BDD. This new study shows a robust link between BDD symptoms and shame and suggests that it may be one of the routes by which adverse childhood experiences feed into BDD. An important next step is to find out whether increasing self-compassion and reducing shame has a positive effect on BDD symptoms.”
