Katharine A. Phillips – författare

This landmark book is the first comprehensive edited volume on body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a common and severe disorder. People with BDD are preoccupied with distressing or impairing preoccupations with non-existent or slight defects in their physical appearance. People with BDD think that they look ugly -- even monstrous -- although they look normal to others. BDD often derails sufferers' lives and can lead to suicide. BDD has been described around the world since the 1800s but was virtually unknown and unstudied until only several decades ago. Since then, research on BDD has dramatically increased understanding of this often-debilitating condition. Only recently, BDD was considered untreatable, but today, most sufferers can be successfully treated. This is the only book that provides comprehensive, in-depth, up-to-date information on BDD's clinical features, history, classification, epidemiology, morbidity, features in special populations, diagnosis and assessment, etiology and pathophysiology, treatment, and relationship to other disorders. Numerous chapters focus on cosmetic treatment, because it is frequently received but usually ineffective for BDD, which can lead to legal action and even violence toward treating clinicians. The book includes numerous clinical cases, which illustrate BDD's clinical features, its often-profound consequences, and recommended treatment approaches.This volume's contributors are the leading researchers and clinicians in this rapidly expanding field. Editor Katharine A. Phillips, head of the DSM-V committee on BDD, has done pioneering research on many aspects of this disorder, including its treatment. This book will be of interest to all clinicians who provide mental health treatment and to researchers in BDD, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and other obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. It will be indispensable to surgeons, dermatologists, and other clinicians who provide cosmetic treatment. Students and trainees with an interest in psychology and mental health will also be interested in this book. This book fills a major gap in the literature by providing clinicians and researchers with cutting-edge, indispensable information on all aspects of BDD and its treatment.

Jane is an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, tall, thin and stately. She believes she is breathtakingly ugly. Tormented by what she sees as her huge nose, crooked lip, big jaw, fat buttocks, and tiny breasts, she hasn't left her house in six years. Though she lives in the same house as her mother, she once went two years without seeing her. When relatives come over, she avoids them, hiding in her room, even on Thanksgiving. The one time she left the house - forced to see a doctor - she covered her face with bandages. Eventually, she attempted suicide. "I can't imagine any suffering greater than this," she said. "If I had my choice, I'd rather be blind or have my arm cut off. I'd be happy to have cancer."Jane has body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD. In this revised and expanded edition of The Broken Mirror, Dr Katherine Phillips draws on years of scientific research, clinical practice, and detailed interviews with patients to bring readers an updated and expanded book on this troubling and sometimes debilitating disorder, in which sufferers are obsessed with perceived flaws in their appearance. Phillips describes severe cases, such as Jane's, but also milder cases, such as Carl, a successful lawyer who uses work to distract him from his slightly thinning hair. Many sufferers function well, but remain secretly obsessed by their "hideous acne" or "horrible nose", sneaking constant peaks at a pocket mirror, or spending hours redoing makeup. BDD afflict millions of people. It isn't an uncommon disorder, simply a hidden one, since sufferers are often embarrassed to tell even their closest friends about their concerns; one woman, after fifty years of marriage, still kept her appearance worries a secret from her husband. This revised and expanded edition of The Broken Mirror provides updated information from recent research that sheds new light on this serious illness.Besides the fascinating story of the disorder itself, The Broken Mirror is also a lifesaving handbook for sufferers, their families, and their doctors. Left untreated, the torment of BDD can lead to hospitalization and sometimes suicide. With treatment, many sufferers are able to lead normal lives. Phillips provides a quick self-assessment questionnaire, helping readers distinguish between normal appearance concerns and the obsession of BDD to determine whether they or someone they know have BDD. She includes common clues to BDD - such as frequent mirror checking, covering up with clothing, and excessive exercise. Four new chapters on treatment contain updated information and recommendations on how to effectively treat BDD - as well as frequently obtained treatments that should be avoided. A revised chapter offers helpful advice and reassurance for friends and families of BDD sufferers. Profoundly affected by the disorder themselves, those who care about someone with BDD will find both helpful advice and reassurance in this indispensable book.The revised and expanded edition of The Broken Mirror is the most comprehensive book on BDD and is written by the leading expert on this disorder. It is essential reading for psychiatrists, other mental health professionals, dermatologists and plastic surgeons; for the friends and family concerned about a loved one who won't believe their reassurance; and for the millions who suffer from BDD in silence and secrecy.

Jane is an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, tall, thin and stately. She believes she is breathtakingly ugly. Tormented by what she sees as her huge nose, crooked lip, big jaw, fat buttocks, and tiny breasts, she hasn't left her house in six years. Though she lives in the same house as her mother, she once went two years without seeing her. When relatives come over, she avoids them, hiding in her room, even on Thanksgiving. The one time she left the house - forced to see a doctor - she covered her face with bandages. Eventually, she attempted suicide. "I can't imagine any suffering greater than this," she said. "If I had my choice, I'd rather be blind or have my arm cut off. I'd be happy to have cancer."Jane has body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD. In this revised and expanded edition of The Broken Mirror, Dr Katherine Phillips draws on years of scientific research, clinical practice, and detailed interviews with patients to bring readers an updated and expanded book on this troubling and sometimes debilitating disorder, in which sufferers are obsessed with perceived flaws in their appearance. Phillips describes severe cases, such as Jane's, but also milder cases, such as Carl, a successful lawyer who uses work to distract him from his slightly thinning hair. Many sufferers function well, but remain secretly obsessed by their "hideous acne" or "horrible nose", sneaking constant peaks at a pocket mirror, or spending hours redoing makeup. BDD afflict millions of people. It isn't an uncommon disorder, simply a hidden one, since sufferers are often embarrassed to tell even their closest friends about their concerns; one woman, after fifty years of marriage, still kept her appearance worries a secret from her husband. This revised and expanded edition of The Broken Mirror provides updated information from recent research that sheds new light on this serious illness.Besides the fascinating story of the disorder itself, The Broken Mirror is also a lifesaving handbook for sufferers, their families, and their doctors. Left untreated, the torment of BDD can lead to hospitalization and sometimes suicide. With treatment, many sufferers are able to lead normal lives. Phillips provides a quick self-assessment questionnaire, helping readers distinguish between normal appearance concerns and the obsession of BDD to determine whether they or someone they know have BDD. She includes common clues to BDD - such as frequent mirror checking, covering up with clothing, and excessive exercise. Four new chapters on treatment contain updated information and recommendations on how to effectively treat BDD - as well as frequently obtained treatments that should be avoided. A revised chapter offers helpful advice and reassurance for friends and families of BDD sufferers. Profoundly affected by the disorder themselves, those who care about someone with BDD will find both helpful advice and reassurance in this indispensable book.The revised and expanded edition of The Broken Mirror is the most comprehensive book on BDD and is written by the leading expert on this disorder. It is essential reading for psychiatrists, other mental health professionals, dermatologists and plastic surgeons; for the friends and family concerned about a loved one who won't believe their reassurance; and for the millions who suffer from BDD in silence and secrecy.

In a world obsessed with appearance, it is not surprising that body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD -- an emotionally painful obsession with perceived flaws in one's appearance -- has manifested itself as a troubling and relatively common problem for many individuals. In The Broken Mirror, the first and most definitive book on BDD, Dr. Katharine A. Phillips provided a comprehensive manual for patients and their physicians by drawing on years of clinical practice, scientific research, and professional evaluations of over 1,000 patients. Now, in Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder: An Essential Guide , the world's leading authority on BDD reaches out to patients, their friends, and their families with this concise and updated handbook. BDD causes sufferers to be obsessed by perceived flaws in their appearance and may afflict as much as two percent of the population, or nearly five million people. Many sufferers are able to function well in society, but remain secretly obsessed by their "hideous acne" or "horrible nose," sneaking constant peeks at a pocket mirror, or spending hours at a time redoing makeup. Others find their lives disintegrate because of their appearance obsessions. It is not an uncommon disorder, simply a hidden one, since sufferers are often embarrassed to tell even their closest friends about their concerns. Using stories and interviews to show the many different behaviors and symptoms of BDD, and a quick self-assessment questionnaire, Dr. Phillips guides readers through the basics of the disorder and through the many treatment options that work and don't work. With Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder: An Essential Guide, sufferers will find both helpful advice and much needed reassurance in a compact, down-to-earth indispensable book.

Presenting an effective treatment approach specifically tailored to the unique challenges of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), this book is grounded in state-of-the-art research. The authors are experts on BDD and related conditions. They describe ways to engage patients who believe they have defects or flaws in their appearance. Provided are clear-cut strategies for helping patients overcome the self-defeating thoughts, impairments in functioning, and sometimes dangerous ritualistic behaviors that characterize BDD. Clinician-friendly features include step-by-step instructions for conducting each session and more than 50 reproducible handouts and forms; the large-size format facilitates photocopying.See also the related self-help guide by Dr. Wilhelm, Feeling Good about the Way You Look, an ideal recommendation for clients with BDD or less severe body image problems.

Beset by contradictions, somatoform and factitious disorders have an unusually long, rich and colourful historical and clinical tradition, yet some of them have received only scant empirical investigation. This annotated volume aims to clarify the issues surrounding these disorders, and offers practical guidance and recommendations, highlighting the pressing need for further research to improve patient care. It offers a broad synthesis of knowledge - and controversies - about somatoform and factitious disorders. Topics covered include: somatization disorder; hypochondriasis; body dysmorphic disorder; conversion disorder; and factitious disorders.

Although The Language of Mental Health is designed to be used primarily by professionals, patients and their families, mental health advocacy groups, attorneys, and others also will appreciate its many reader-friendly features.