Does BDD run in Families?

My body image concerns started at a young age when I struggled with acne, but my lack of confidence began way before this.

I remember a friend of mine in grade school making some off-handed comment about a generic Yankees baseball cap I was wearing and I felt self-conscious for months.

I felt the same way about my hair, my clothes, my personality.

My grandmother may have had BDD.

She didn’t like to leave the house, she walked with her head down and she never would take photographs.

I never made much of this until the other day, I started to think about where my BDD may have come from, and if this could be an inherited trait.

I started to worry about my children.

Depression appears to have a strong genetic component possibly multiplied by a factor of 3 if you have a close relative with the condition.

What about Body Dysmorphic Disorder? Does it run in families?

Because BDD is not talked about as much and those who have it tend not to share their concerns, or identify it as such, its inheritance patterns are likely to go unnoticed.

This I am sure will change with time.

Last year, I swore there was a girl at my gym with BDD, or maybe I was simply trying to find somebody else to relate to. But I picked up on certain patterns.

She would obsess over mirrors and seem to avoid them at the same time. She was fit, but self-conscious, she appeared a bit nervous and anxious. I saw myself in her.

How much of this did I put upon her to make myself feel better? I will never know, but it is the first time I realized that I may be able to spot people with BDD.

So I started looking.

It is hard to find, many are models, lawyers and doctors, people you would never suspect to have it.

Can you spot people with BDD? Can you see it in yourself? Do you suspect a family member of yours may have had it?
photo credit: Pulpolux