Body Dysmorphic Disorder - History

History

The disorder was first documented in 1886 by the researcher Morselli, who dubbed the condition "dysmorphophobia". BDD was recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in 1987 and was recorded and formally recognized as a disorder in 1987 in the DSM-III-R. It has since been changed from "dysmorphophobia" to "body dysmorphic disorder" because the original implies a phobia of people, not a reluctance to interact socially because of poor body image.

In his practice, Freud had a patient who would today be diagnosed with the disorder: Russian aristocrat Sergei Pankejeff (nicknamed "The Wolf Man" by Freud himself in order to protect Pankejeff's identity), had a preoccupation with his nose to such an extent it greatly limited his functioning. It even came to the point where "The Wolf Man" wouldn't go out in public for fear of being scrutinized by others around him.

Read more about this topic:  Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    The reverence for the Scriptures is an element of civilization, for thus has the history of the world been preserved, and is preserved.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    The only history is a mere question of one’s struggle inside oneself. But that is the joy of it. One need neither discover Americas nor conquer nations, and yet one has as great a work as Columbus or Alexander, to do.
    —D.H. (David Herbert)

    False history gets made all day, any day,
    the truth of the new is never on the news
    False history gets written every day
    ...
    the lesbian archaeologist watches herself
    sifting her own life out from the shards she’s piecing,
    asking the clay all questions but her own.
    Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)