Suffering with body dysmorphia as a teenage guy

[AleksanderSlovenija]

Body dysmorphia is a mood disorder similar to anorexia where someone thinks they are ugly and have very low self esteem, although their general confidence is OK . It affects men and women although it is 60% more common in females.

Ok. I am just your standard 18yo, heterosexual male who goes to college. As a kid in middle school I used to be a total nerd. Had no sense of style what so ever . When I came to high school I developed anxiety and social phobia .then I started paying attention to style and it came to a point in life I spent 100 USD for an image consulting. I spent 30 dollars for a haircut etc and still constantly fishing for compliments and getting depressed if a girl doesn't even glance at you. Feeling you are ugly. Gaining weight also made my BD worse by 70%. Body dysmorphia is a real dissorder and it affects us guys too!

Taking selfies is a daily chore almost.

[LiveFreeorDieHard]

Who cares. Too many people care about insignificant shit like abs or the aize of their arms or their clothes. If people want to waste their time being shallow and living an emtpy life, so be it, its their life to live. I honestly care just enough about my looks to shower and get haircuts but i dont obsess over it. I care about getting laid like other dudes but i dont obsess over that. I think a lot about a lot of things like my job and my friends but never did i ever worry so much about my body. The secondyou stop caring so much about your body you free yourself. Just stop obsessing over your body or how you measure up to other guys. Live your life however you want but im telling you, your wasting your one chance at life obsessing over your body.

[BeeNee]

Body Dysmorphia is a mental disorder like depression or anorexia. Telling someone to just stop doing it, is not going to work, because that's assuming the person experiencing it is just doing it to just be doing it. The majority of people with mental disorders don't want to be sick. It's one of the first things they express. They want to get better and be 'normal.' It may be frustrating to you from the outside looking in, but imagine what it's like for someone who is in this loop going on in their heads that they can't get to stop. It's not a fun place to be.

[Scrambledagain]

Bdd is a bitch. I also had it. They say it's increasing in men and it's brother, muscle dysmorphia (where men think they are too small) is also increasing. But bdd is an obsessive compulsive disorder, not a mood disorder. Mood disorders though are a common side effect of bdd. Click this link https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au it's an Australian web based psychology self help centre and they have a bdd workbook that can help you out in there.