So, let's step back for a moment and consider the distinction between body dysmorphia and Body Dysmorphic Disorder. In the former, one identifies and thinks about a perceived deficiency in their body appearance (note the word perceived here). In the latter, one obsesses over a relatively slight deficiency and acts repetitively on that obsession and that the distress significantly impairs social, occupational or other life function.

As you note, the disorder is predicated upon "one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance- a flaw that, to others, is either minor or not observable."


The reason this is so important is that, almost by definition, people who obsess over their appearance and who have grossly abnormal appearance (such as obesity), don't have BDD. They may have other psychological/psychiatric disorders, but it's not BDD. And if the weight issue is not significant but the individual thinks they have a significant abnormality of appearance upon which they're acting (usually by altering ingestion) due to excess weight then it's more likely an Eating Disorder. The real question is 'do you struggle with your body image' and has that changed with your weight loss?


So to answer your question, no, I don't have the disorder. But yes, I can get very focused on small flaws. To the point that I have changed clothes when I looked in the mirror (which I do at every mirror that I encounter) and felt 'unflattered'. Or put clothes on when I looked at and observed all of my naked body's defects. I have intermittently had periods where I was very unhappy with how I perceived I appeared, generally better with weight but occasionally made worse by the fact that my weight is where it should be. Or that when I lost even more the 'defects' didn't go away- they were just compounded by being too thin and hungry all the time. OTOH, time has been a much more effective facilitator; as I've aged, my perspective on my appearance has improved significantly, even though my appearance (more wrinkles and a fewer hairs notwithstanding) hasn't really changed.

But you generally don't have a problem with dysmorphia when you're grossly overweight. Because in that case, the appearance deficiency you perceive is firmly rooted in reality.

Unless, of course, the source of your dysmorphia is not being fat.

I don't have it in the form of a disorder, but I do have an issue with body image at times. First when I gained weight (as I was gaining) I thought "oh I'm still OK, not happy with how I look, but I think I carry it well enough".

Since I lost weight, I find periodically I think I look very good, thin and fit. Other times I think I don't look much different than I did with 60+ pounds extra on me.

A couple things play into it, one...I swear mirrors in stores, hotels etc. make you look thinner and the mirror (full length) on my closet door is either real or makes me look bigger. I can't figure out if it is a head thing for me or reality it is a mystery but it definitely plays with my mind.

The second item is related to me wanting to do more toning exercises because I need to build muscle, when I don't do them I think that is when my head gets to me and I look at myself and see flaws to my muscle tone and how my clothes fit and anything else I can pick on.

These are not everyday events, but they pop up periodically and sort of bug me when they do.

BDD, No.

Problems yes. However I did come to accept my condition body (the good and the bad) years ago. Do I like it now, No! But that is why I trying to make changes with this lifestyle. I don't typically look at myself in mirrors. I was in a class and they video taped tings we did, that was the eye opener where I saw me as Foghorn Leghorn..... A real big body and a little itty-bitty head. That just got me more angry with myself for letting me go back there again.

Like Bob, I lived in denial for a long time - but any defects I've obsessed over had to be glaringly obvious for me to notice them in the first place.

Some one once told me that men all think they look better than they do, women all think they look worse. Comments on this thread seem to follow that observation. My wife constantly complains of being fat. She is 5 feet tall and weighs 102. I, on the other hand, was content with my appearance at 6 feet and 221. It was health issues that led me to drop more than 50 lbs., not body image.

I still "see" myself as the thin, fit person I was until my late twenties or early thirties. I didn't think of myself as obese at my highest weight, and I still don't have that mental picture of myself, even though the mirror tells me otherwise. Sometimes, even while looking at myself in the mirror, I don't think I see myself accurately. I don't know where that fits with all that has been discussed.