Body Dismorphic Disorder-- advice please

[Guest guest]

I'm posting this to two lists. Apologies to those who receive it twice.

I have an old friend who I've recently gotten in touch with and just found

out has Body Dismorphic Disorder. She sees her body differently than everyone

else. Everyone tells her she has beautifully soft skin, but she sees it as

rough, scaly, and gross. She also thinks she's fat (she's not real thin, but

isn't anywhere near fat), thinks she has small eyes and messed up teeth. She

wears tons of makeup and *can't* go out of the house without putting it on.

When

her hair is out of place, she rips it out as a first resort, before she tries

fixing it with hair spray or teasing or anything. She says she doesn't like

ripping it out or get any pleasure out of it, but I guess it relieves

stress... she says it's like smoking.

I was wondering about zinc deficiency, but she doesn't have sleeping

problems, digestive disorders or white spots on her fingernails. I know those

are

some common signs-- I know her diet is deficient in zinc, but I'd think she'd

have some of those problems if she had a severe deficiency.

She's a vegetarian. She said that she's had this disorder as long as she can

remember, but didn't realize it was a " thing " until her doctor recently

brought it up. She says it hasn't gotten any better or worse since going

vegetarian but has stayed the same.

She didn't ever eat much meat before she was a vegetarian. She said she ate

a lot of fish but I didn't ask her how much was " a lot. " (I was asking lots

of questions and trying not to be overbearing.) She's never liked eggs and so

never ate them much. I remember when she was 15, about 4.5 years ago, she had

a purple spot on her arm that was apparently from calcium deficiency. She

hated milk, and her doctor gave her some kind of chocolate flavored calcium

pills, but I think, iirc, she often neglected to take them.

She adds tofu to everything she eats, eats once a day and generally neglects

to eat. She doesn't take vitamin supplements because they hurt her stomach.

She will often go four or five days with eating nothing but a bagel the whole

day.

Obviously her diet is deficient in nearly everything and the tofu may or may

not be adding to the problems-- I imagine it can't help her zinc status given

that she has practically none to speak of in her diet. However, she says that

this has been constant all her life since she remembers, and her diet was no

doubt better earlier, although still problematic.

I'm trying to figure out whether there is any dietary connection (obviously

it isn't *helping* her), and what advice can help her. I'd like to try to

figure out if there might be any big things in the diet that might be centrally

at

the root of the problem, because I don't want to give her dietary advice

unless it will help a lot, so she doesn't come to think that her diet isn't

important or that the advice isn't helpful.

She says she's been put on nearly every kind of anti-depressant, but the only

ones that ever worked were Lexapro (or something like that?). She

didn't/doesn't take them, however, because, well, because she doesn't want to.

If anyone has any ideas I'd love to do some brainstorming. If anyone's heard

of this disorder (sounds similar to the bodybuilding dysmorphia disorder) or

has known anyone who has it I'd appreciate any experiences you can share.

Thanks,

Chris

[Guest guest]

You said Brainstorm, so here goes:

Mercury

Aluminum

Lead

So heavy metals, all of these can occur as s result of mineral deficiencies

by the way.

B vitamins

Trace minerals

Magnesium

Calcium

Iron

Zinc

Vit A

Vit D

What about a berry smoothie a day with some powdered calcium (helps displace

lead), chelated Iron (Natrol's liquid iron or yellow dock, iron helps

displace lead also), powdered magnesium (helps displace aluminum), powdered

MSN and a 1000 mg capsule of fish oil for the A and D? A red pepper a day

would give her some Vit E.

Another suggestion is the brand Alcer makes Emergen C which has lots of

trace minerals and a few B and other vits and mins. It is tasty, convenient

and fast. My 6 year old eve asks for it every day. I bet Iherb.com has

lots of these things for a reasonable price. Zinc would increase her

appetite too.

These would be my recommendations for any mental health situation, and I

don't think many people get enough of these unless they are supplementing.

Connie Bernard

http://www.PandoraPads.com

Organic Cotton Feminine Pads, Tampons, Nursing Pads,

Natural Progesterone Cream, and Children's Supplements.

On-line Discount Voucher: aa242a223

[Guest guest]

Oh, and to add to what I said previously, you can chelate her. Bathe in

baking soda and Epsom salt in hot water daily for a week. Add beneficial

minerals back in.

Mercola says that cilantro chelates tissue too.

When you said she had been a fish eater, that mercury red flag went up.

Plus, heavy metals goes with neurological/mental health stuff. KWIM?

Connie Bernard

http://www.PandoraPads.com

Organic Cotton Feminine Pads, Tampons, Nursing Pads,

Natural Progesterone Cream, and Children's Supplements.

On-line Discount Voucher: nn242g223

[Guest guest]

And to go along with diet, I would suggest EFT. Emotional Freedom

Technique. You can learn about it at www.emofree.com

Catz

[Guest guest]

Too much manganese from all the tofu she adds to everything?

I understand that soy takes up a lot of manganese from the soil, more

than other crops generally.

Do you ever see her get angry?

Is it hard for her to make decisions? Or does she ever talk about

having a hard time thinking straight?

Does she ever complain of being cold? I would expect all that tofu to

make her hypothyroid.

She's really into punishing and depriving herself, isn't she? She

really doesn't sound as if she has any connection to things that are

essentially nurturing.

Does she watch a lot of TV? Or spend a lot of time on the Internet?

Do you have any idea what her parents are/were like? It sounds like

she thinks she doesn't deserve to receive the kinder and gentler

things of life.

Do you think her teeth are bad? How would Dr. Price describe them?

> I'm posting this to two lists. Apologies to those who receive it

twice.

>

> I have an old friend who I've recently gotten in touch with and

just found

> out has Body Dismorphic Disorder. She sees her body differently

than everyone

> else. Everyone tells her she has beautifully soft skin, but she

sees it as

> rough, scaly, and gross. She also thinks she's fat (she's not real

thin, but

> isn't anywhere near fat), thinks she has small eyes and messed up

teeth. She

> wears tons of makeup and *can't* go out of the house without

putting it on. When

> her hair is out of place, she rips it out as a first resort, before

she tries

> fixing it with hair spray or teasing or anything. She says she

doesn't like

> ripping it out or get any pleasure out of it, but I guess it

relieves

> stress... she says it's like smoking.

>

> I was wondering about zinc deficiency, but she doesn't have

sleeping

> problems, digestive disorders or white spots on her fingernails. I

know those are

> some common signs-- I know her diet is deficient in zinc, but I'd

think she'd

> have some of those problems if she had a severe deficiency.

>

> She's a vegetarian. She said that she's had this disorder as long

as she can

> remember, but didn't realize it was a " thing " until her doctor

recently

> brought it up. She says it hasn't gotten any better or worse since

going

> vegetarian but has stayed the same.

>

> She didn't ever eat much meat before she was a vegetarian. She

said she ate

> a lot of fish but I didn't ask her how much was " a lot. " (I was

asking lots

> of questions and trying not to be overbearing.) She's never liked

eggs and so

> never ate them much. I remember when she was 15, about 4.5 years

ago, she had

> a purple spot on her arm that was apparently from calcium

deficiency. She

> hated milk, and her doctor gave her some kind of chocolate flavored

calcium

> pills, but I think, iirc, she often neglected to take them.

>

> She adds tofu to everything she eats, eats once a day and generally

neglects

> to eat. She doesn't take vitamin supplements because they hurt her

stomach.

> She will often go four or five days with eating nothing but a bagel

the whole

> day.

>

> Obviously her diet is deficient in nearly everything and the tofu

may or may

> not be adding to the problems-- I imagine it can't help her zinc

status given

> that she has practically none to speak of in her diet. However,

she says that

> this has been constant all her life since she remembers, and her

diet was no

> doubt better earlier, although still problematic.

>

> I'm trying to figure out whether there is any dietary connection

(obviously

> it isn't *helping* her), and what advice can help her. I'd like to

try to

> figure out if there might be any big things in the diet that might

be centrally at

> the root of the problem, because I don't want to give her dietary

advice

> unless it will help a lot, so she doesn't come to think that her

diet isn't

> important or that the advice isn't helpful.

>

> She says she's been put on nearly every kind of anti-depressant,

but the only

> ones that ever worked were Lexapro (or something like that?). She

> didn't/doesn't take them, however, because, well, because she

doesn't want to.

>

> If anyone has any ideas I'd love to do some brainstorming. If

anyone's heard

> of this disorder (sounds similar to the bodybuilding dysmorphia

disorder) or

> has known anyone who has it I'd appreciate any experiences you can

share.

>

> Thanks,

> Chris

>

>

>