Body image problems can feature in a range
of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety and social phobias.
In the case of body dysmorphic disorder,
people can have a very distorted perception of their body
and their appearance.
Mirrors and windows are my enemy on the days
when I'm having a body dysmorphic disorder flare-up.
I don't think anyone is 100% happy with their appearance,
or I'm yet to meet somebody who is.
But for me, this was just to the extreme.
People use mirrors within BDD to check their appearance
in order to gather more data or information
about how bad the part that they feel looks awful actually really is.
The lowest point for me was probably
the third time I tried to kill myself.
I felt disgusting, didn't want people to see me.
DR ANNEMARIE O'CONNOR: BDD is an obsession or anxiety disorder.
People with BDD are sometimes seen as narcissistic, because what is perceived is that there is
an obsession with how they look. Actually, that's what happens as a result of detesting
how they look and their aim typically is just to look acceptable and normal.
BDD is a shame-based disorder. A lot of people sit in silence with it, because they don't
know that it is actually an illness, and that it's a treatable illness.
DAVE CHAWNER: For some people, negative body image can be
linked to disordered eating.
I was sectioned under the Mental Health Act because of anorexia.
Then going from a size 4 to a size 20,
using food as a compulsive overeating disorder to kind of
numb myself in a different way.
The commonality between BDD and eating disorders
is disordered eating. So that the eating potentially is disrupted. Now, a lot of people with BDD
have a preoccupation and distress about an aspect of their appearance that doesn't have
anything to do with eating. But for those that have an appearance problem that is, for
example, their whole body shape, then that quite often includes disordered eating.
JULIETTE BURTON: There's blurred lines between my eating disorders
and my body dysmorphic disorder.
They do shift and it's hard to tell the difference sometimes.
But it is useful, so useful, for me to have that language around which to talk about both
these separate conditions. As well as, you know, depression and anxiety are still things
that I battle with regularly.
For me, my eating disorder was about addiction, obsession and control.
But I couldn't see what other people could see,
and at the time, I didn't even realise I'd got a problem.
DAVE CHAWNER ON STAGE: Let's be honest. If you saw me in the street,
you're not going to think, "Phwoar! Alpha male!" (LAUGHTER)
You're much more likely to think, "Oh, vegetarian!"
ROB WILSON: A body image problem can become extremely dangerous.
In the case of anorexia and bulimia,
it may lead to very serious long-term health problems.
And in the case of body dysmorphic disorder,
it has one of the highest suicide rates of any psychiatric problem.
So what was your kind of breakthrough moment?
Somebody said to me, "Let's try a month where you live as if your body dysmorphic disorder
is a mental health problem rather than being a physical problem.
So just pretend for a month that there's not actually something wrong with you -
there's something wrong with you mind.
And see how it goes." So I was like, "I guess I don't have anything to lose."
And then having the really intense exposure therapy,
working on my anxiety. That was the big change for me.
DR ROB WILLSON: Exposure therapy means deliberately facing
your fears in a way that's therapeutic.
To help someone stop their compulsions,
the most important thing for them is first to consider the effect of these strategies
and how much they may in fact be worsening their preoccupation with their appearance.
DAVE CHAWNER: I think one of the breakthrough moments for me
for getting help was I slumped into depression, and it became my normality.
And as soon as I started to think that I could get rid of that,
that I could get back to being the person
that I enjoyed, and actually start having fun again, that made recovery seem exciting and enjoyable.
Rather than something that I was losing the anorexia,
I was actually gaining my life back.
JULIETTE BURTON: Sometimes I tell myself that I actually have a great love and respect for my body.
It's really helpful to calm myself down, to remind myself of how much I've put it through and
how it's survived. It's sprung back and forth.
Sometimes if I can't adore it, love it,
at least I can respect it.
ALANAH BAGWELL: What's helped me most is having support from family and friends.
And that isn't necessarily them understanding where I'm coming from,
because mental health problems are really often irrational
and won't make sense to them, but just being there for me and trying to
still listen and sort of validate the way I'm feeling.
DAVE CHAWNER: Recovery takes time. And some days are better than others.
But if you are struggling, no matter how bad you feel right now,
there is help out there. You just have to ask.
Thank you so much, and have a good one. And goodbye! Thank you, guys.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)