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Biomedical subjects

David Veale

Publications and source records attributed to David Veale.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Self-discrepancy in body dysmorphic disorder.

OBJECTIVES: According to self-discrepancy theory (SDT), depression, social anxiety, eating disorders and paranoia result from different types of conflicting self-beliefs. Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) consists of a preoccupation with imagined or slight defects in one's appearance, which is often associated with a depressed mood and social anxiety. SDT was therefore applied to BDD patients to further understand their beliefs about their appearance. DESIGN: Using a comparative group design, BDD patients were compared against a non-patient control group. METHOD: A sample of 149 participants, consisting of three groups - BDD (72), BDD preoccupied with their weight and shape (35), and controls (42) - completed a modified version of the Selves Questionnaire (Higgins, Bond, Klein, & Strauman, 1986) requiring them to list and rate physical characteristics according to the following standpoints: (a) self-actual; (b) self-ideal; (c) self-should; (d) other-actual; and (e) other-ideal. RESULTS: BDD patients displayed significant discrepancies between their self-actual and both their self-ideal and self-should. However, there were no significant discrepancies in BDD patients between their self-actual and other-actual or other-ideal domains. Analysis of variance using depression and social anxiety scores as covariates revealed a significant difference for both the self-ideal and self-should discrepancy. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that BDD patients have an unrealistic ideal or demand as to how they should look. BDD patients are more like depressed patients (rather than social phobics or bulimics), being more concerned with a failure to achieve their own aesthetic standard than with the perceived ideals of others.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Possible association of body dysmorphic disorder with an occupation or education in art and design.

OBJECTIVE: The authors hypothesized that because patients with body dysmorphic disorder are preoccupied with their appearance and aesthetics, they are more likely to have an occupation or education in art and design than patients with other psychiatric disorders. METHOD: Information on occupation and higher education or training was extracted from the case notes of 100 consecutive patients with body dysmorphic disorder and compared with the same information for 100 patients with a major depressive episode, 100 with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and 100 with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). RESULTS: Twenty percent of the patients with body dysmorphic disorder had an occupation or education in art or design, compared with 4% of the patients with major depressive episode, 3% of those with OCD, and 0% of those with PTSD. CONCLUSIONS: Onset of body dysmorphic disorder is usually gradual during adolescence, and an education in art and design may be a contributory factor to its development in some patients. An equally plausible explanation is that patients with body dysmorphic disorder tend to have an interest in aesthetics.

Adult↗