Empowering Parents and Carers of Children with Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Empowering parents and carers with the knowledge, tools and support they need to advocate for and support their child with Body Dysmorphic Disorder

What is Body Dysmorphic Disorder?

Are you a parent or carer who’s worried about how your teen sees themselves? You’re not alone. It’s estimated that around 1 in 50 people have Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a clinical and serious mental health condition.

It’s a preoccupation with a perceived flaw in appearance. The person suffering with BDD is excessively self-conscious to the point that it materially affects their life. Often unable to leave the house and participate in normal day to day activities and negatively impacting relationships.

BDD often begins in childhood. Many parents have never heard of it and don’t know what signs to look for.

Left unrecognised, BDD can take over a person's life, causing deep distress, isolation, and could result in more dangerous behaviours in an attempt to ‘fix’ the perceived flaw.

This perceived flaw is usually centred around a specific element of appearance, like the chin, nose, forehead or hair.

The sooner BDD is recognised and diagnosed, the sooner your child can access the right support.

Find out more about Beyond BDD’s mission.

Reassurance Seeking Scripts for BDD

Free Downloadable Guide

One of the common symptoms of Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a need for constant reassurance about appearance. We know from research that providing reassurance doesn’t help. It can actually feed your child’s BDD and make it harder for them to break the cycle.

It might provide short term relief, and as a parent we want to do all we can to help our children feel better – but it re-enforces the idea there is something wrong. The more we do it, the stronger the BDD becomes.

It’s not easy to learn how to respond differently; there is nothing easy about BDD. It’s not about ignoring how distressed they are, but gently guiding them and supporting them away from those reassurance-seeking patterns.

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Let’s talk NICE guidelines. These are the guidelines that are set up independently for the NHS to follow and they cover everything in health care. There are guidelines that set out how BDD and OCD should be assessed and treated in both adults
It’s okay not to have all the answers. 🫶 I’m the kind of person who needs *all* the answers. I want to get under every rock, unpick every moment, make sense of every event. But BDD isn’t that simple – and it throws us strai
Your voice matters 🫶 At some point in this journey, you’re likely to need to advocate for your child. 🫶 Perhaps a service provider got it wrong. 🫶 Maybe your child isn’t connecting with a therapist. 🫶 Maybe they need more accommoda
It’s not your child. It’s the BDD. Your reminder today is that you’re human. And that you will get frustrated from time to time. Frustrated at your child. There’s a lot of guilt that comes with that too. With all the empathy
Your job isn’t to fix them. Your job is to be there for them. As a parent or carer of a child with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, I understand the pain you feel when we can’t fix them. When they’re struggling and you don’t know wh