Related Experiment Videos
Body dysmorphic disorder in outpatients with major depression
Andrew A Nierenberg1, Katharine A Phillips, Timothy J Petersen
1Depression Research Program, Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and The Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA anierenberg@partners.org
Journal of Affective Disorders
|July 10, 2002
Summary
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) frequently co-occurs with major depression, particularly atypical depression. This comorbidity is linked to earlier onset and longer depressive episodes.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Mental Health Research
Background:
- Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) involves preoccupation with perceived appearance flaws.
- Depression is the most common condition comorbid with BDD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of BDD in outpatients diagnosed with major depressive disorder.
- To compare characteristics of depressed patients with and without comorbid BDD.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated 350 outpatients with major depression using structured clinical interviews (SCID-P, SCID-II) and a BDD module.
- Compared demographic, clinical, and comorbidity data between subjects with and without BDD.
Main Results:
- 8.0% of subjects had a lifetime history of BDD; 6.6% had current BDD.
- Comorbid BDD was associated with earlier depression onset and longer episode duration.
- BDD was more prevalent in atypical depression (14.4%) versus non-atypical depression (5.1%).
- BDD patients had higher rates of social phobia, eating disorders, somatoform disorders, and certain personality disorders.
Conclusions:
- BDD is a common comorbidity in major depression.
- BDD is associated with specific clinical features, including a higher prevalence in atypical depression.
- Further research is needed to explore BDD comorbidity with bipolar spectrum disorders.