Has anyone with body dysmorphia or similar conditions ever tried to tease a solution for whatever they think their problem is, by NOT talking about it with a doctor? I’ve never felt that my specific form of dysmorphia was a delusion or untrue. It’s been called by several psych doctors a fixed belief, which has morphed it into a form of my schizophrenia. The thing is, we may tend to get emotional about my dysmorphia, which would prompt any well-meaning doctor to try and deflect our concerns with denials.
The thing is, I sometimes feel like I can tease a doctor into a solution for my problem if I refrain from mentioning it for long enough. It’s taken years for this issue to go quiet, but I think finally I’m meeting doctors who are willing to treat the underlying cause of the problem, if it’s even possible.
What sort of body dysmorphia do you have? I sometimes deal with a bit of dysphoria. I’m not too sure about the difference between dysmorphia and dysphoria, but I deal with it by practicing self-affirmation. I look in the mirror and pick out five things I like about myself, then I tell myself that my body is a good body, and it’s where I belong. When I first started, I didn’t believe myself at all, and I just felt stupid. But the more I practice, the easier it becomes.
If you’re dealing specifically with gender dysphoria, there are hormone treatments you may be able to take.
Well, I do have gynecomastia, so that at least isn’t itself dysmorphia. It’s observable by anyone examining me and they can’t simply deny its existence. I’m a little too self-conscious to talk about my fixed belief, which is weird because I talk about a lot of embarrassing stuff on here but this is a sensitive thing for me. It’s more a trait and not that a part of my body is misshapen or wrong. So probably not dysmorphia. But I believe there’s enough of a similarity to see if I can get some strategies for doctors to acknowledge a problem so that it can be solved. That’s kind of the point of this post.
I apologize if anyone finds this triggering, but sometimes doctors will lie to get a good effect on a patient. One even outright told me he’d do that and that I should lie to myself or at least start. I think maybe I misunderstood him but that threw me for a loop for a while.
So that’s led me to stop focusing so much on this during regular doctors visits, even though it’s a huge contributor toward my lack of productivity at finding work.