Body Dismorphic Disorder

[lynn0824]

Hi, I am a 28 year old mother of two.  I suffered from a little bit of BDD in college. It was because of acne but once i was put on accutaine and it cleared up I was instantly fine.I am now having horrible attacks with BDD but this time it  has to do with my four month old daughter and i feel like i am going crazy.  She is a beautiful healthy little girl and the love of my life but i can not stop obsessing about the size and shape of  her ears. they seem large and protrude from her heard quite a bit.  All i see when i look at her are her ears and it has gotten me very depressed.  I find myself obsessing about them 24 hours a day and constantly looking at other babies to compare.    I am not sure what triggered these BDD feelings but it started just two weeks ago. Prior to that I never even noticed another persons ears, adult or infant, or  hers for that matter.  It just appeared out of no where.  I love her more then life itself but i am consumed with the thoughts over the appearance of her ears.  Crazy I know!!!!  I do have a two year old son and i never once had negative feelings or thoughts on any thing physical with him.  Is it normal to have BDD over a child and if so what can I do to help myself.  I am miserable and feel like i'm not enjoying her as much as i could be.  I don't want these negative thoughts to be passed on to my poor innocent baby.  Please  help me.

[Emz23]

I am new to this and just realised the date of your message- nov 2007. I hope all is OK now. :)

Emz

[Emz23]

Hi Lynn
I have BDD and it's not easy I know!
I might be wrong, but reading your message made me think that maybe you are worried that your child may grow up to have insecurities about her ears as you did about your acne? And if you are obsessing over them then she may aswell when she is older?
I know that I would also never wish anyone to have these feelings and go through what we have.
I think a lot of babies can seem to have large ears- especially if they have little hair and they do grow into them.
But I do agree with Venora in that you should see someone who specialises in this type of 'disorder' and nip it in the bud.
You sound like a wonderful and caring mother and I wish you all the best.
Love Emz.

[Venora Moonwind]

  The best advice I can give is to get some counseling to help you deal with this.It will help you tremendously. Let me know how it goes.
Love Venora