close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffIt's not known specifically what causes body dysmorphic disorder. Like many other mental illnesses, body dysmorphic disorder may result from a combination of causes:
- Brain chemical differences. Some evidence suggests that naturally occurring brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, which are linked to mood, may play a role in causing body dysmorphic disorder.
- Structural brain differences. In people who have body dysmorphic disorder, certain areas of the brain may not have developed properly.
- Genes. Some studies show that body dysmorphic disorder is more common in people whose biological family members also have the condition, indicating that there may be a gene or genes associated with this disorder.
- Environment. Your environment, life experiences and culture may contribute to body dysmorphic disorder, especially if they involve negative experiences about your body or self-image.
References
- Body dysmorphic disorder. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec15/ch204/ch204b.html#sec15-ch204-ch204b-767. Accessed Sept. 1, 2010.
- Ford CV. Somatoform disorders. In: Ebert MH, et al. Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Psychiatry, 2nd ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3287234. Accessed Sept. 1, 2010.
- Body dysmorphic disorder. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association: 2000. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed Sept. 1, 2010.
- Fiora P, et al. Body dysmorphic disorder: A complex and polymorphic affection. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. 2009;5:477.
- Hunt TJ, et al. The mirror lies: Body dysmorphic disorder. American Family Physician. 2008;78:217.
- Conrado LA, et al. Body dysmorphic disorder among dermatologic patients: Prevalence and clinical features. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2010;63:235.
- Phillips KA, et al. Body dysmorphic disorder: Treating an underrecognized disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2008;9:165.
- Ipser JC, et al. Pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy for body dysmorphic disorder (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2009;(1): CD005332.
Find Mayo Clinic on