Abstract:
Body Dysmorphic Disorder is an underrecognized mental disorder that is specified by
an extreme preoccupation with non-existent or negligible physical defects and causes
a lot of suffering. It is expected to be more frequent in cosmetic surgery patients
compared to the general population. This study aimed to determine the presence and
severity of BDD along with comorbid depression and anxiety symptoms in cosmetic
surgery patients. A sample of 50 cosmetic surgery patients at the Plastic Surgery
department at Shifa International Hospital was included in the study. The presence of
BDD was gauged using the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire (BDDQ),
whereas BDD severity and comorbid depression and anxiety symptoms were
measured via the BDD-Symptom Scale (BDD-SS) and Hospital Anxiety and
Depression Scale (HADS), respectively. The anxiety and depression scores appeared
to be higher for the participants who showed the presence of BBD. According to the
results, there was a statistically significant difference in the scores of anxiety as per
HADS between those participants who showed presence and those who showed
absence of BDD symptoms, U =113.0, p= 0.003 (p < .05). As for depression scores
between the two groups, the difference was statistically non-significant, U=184.50,
p=0.143 (p > .05). Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between total
scores of BDDQ and HADS-A (p < .01), BDDQ Total Scores and BDD-SS
Symptom severity (p < .01), BDD-SS Symptom severity and HADS-A (p < .05), and
HADS-A and HADS-D (p < .01)
