Long term sufferer

[Guest Hippie]

Hello All,

This is my first post here, my first post on any support forum. But, at age 29 I've really come to a standstill regarding my body issues. I take Prozac for depression and generalised anxiety disorder and I was sure that it would help combat the body hatred. But it's been well over a year now and the problem is worse than ever.

My specific area of concern is my hips, or the lack thereof. I have tiny hips, they're too small compared to my waist. They look weird. This is a long standing problem and I feel I know it is based in reality because in the past a few people have commented on my odd shape. I spend hours trying on different clothes, standing in front of mirrors and taking pictures of myself to try to hide this. It preys on my mind all the time. I check every reflective surface I pass. I am obsessed with my reflection. A bad reflection, a bad photo can ruin my week.

I exercise and eat well and currently weigh 126lbs/9st. I aim to lose another stone. I know it won't change my body shape but I feel it might help to hide the problem.

I guess I just wanted to send this out there, as recognition that this is not going to go away on its own and to seek reassurance that it will get better...

Wishing you all happiness xx

[Guest]

Hi Hippie, I am a OCD Sufferer not BDD sufferer but thinking that no one is hardly here, I thought I would take the time to reply. It sounds really bad and tough, what is your coping strategies? Try not to let these thoughts get you down.

From, NMO.

[Guest Hippie]

Hi NMO,

I had guessed that not many people were around so I didn't check back until this morning, so apologies for not replying until now.

Coping strategies...erm...I'm not sure I have any?! Well, that might not be true. If I can angle myself and dress myself ok then I can take pictures that I don't mind, but this takes quite a bit of time to achieve. I then show these select pictures to certain people and I try to gauge how bad I look based on their reactions. God, that makes me sound mad doesn't it? :-(

But it does briefly make me feel better, or at least it reassures me that I can hide the problem. Ugh...it sounds so ridiculous. What kind of of OCD do you have if you don't mind me asking? Have you found anything that helped long term?

Thanks again for replying...

[Guest]

Your not going mad... How are you today? How do you cope?

[lovid]

Hi Hippie.I think that you would benefit from getting professional help with this.A lot of people worry so badly about how they look that they can take their own lives.It sounds to me like you worry about something that others would often like to be .Most supermodels have superslim figures and others such as Karen Carpenter from the "Carpenters" fame developed anorexia because she believed her hips were too wide.In my opinion anyone who has a bmi which is in the advised medical range has an attractive body shape.I believe there is too much stereotyping and myths about what men (or women) find attractive.A woman with a body shape that is often described as " boyish" by society has a very different body shape to any boy in my opinion and as a straight male I would find the girls figure attractive and the boy's not at all.If you have bdd you may well have a very distorted idea of your own body shape anyway and will listen to criticism and ignore compliments.I bet you have had plenty of positive comments about simply being slim.Is this the case?.I definitely think you should go see your doc and ask for some cbt