Think about the broader implications of your topic. What implications does it have for society in general, not just for biologists like yourselves?
Body dysmorphic disorder is a serious condition that if left untreated can lead to high rates of severe consequences. Including low self-esteem, unemployment, and in major cases suicide even. For society, this topic is huge. This disorder receiving research as well as just traction in general is a call for normalization of all mental disorders, not just common ones. The more found out about Body dysmorphic disorder the more diagnosable it can become. As of now, in my research and writing progress, BDD is severely underdiagnosed. This is because of the lack of education on the disorder going to healthcare professionals as well as those in the works of becoming a medical professional. If more thought goes into the disorder then those who have these thoughts that are seemingly “not normal” to have can be offered treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy or SRIs.
Do you also see similar concerns, keeping broader impacts in mind, in the articles you’ve been reading?
In some articles yes I absolutely do, however, in others I could almost beg to differ. Not many of the articles I have researched have looked into suicide as a grander side effect but I do believe that it is a major concern. The lowering of self-esteem to a point where those with BDD feel as though they don’t have any other outlet is something that needs to be addressed in more depth. On an opposite note, the implication of lack of research is touched in the majority of the articles I have read. Every scientist that has begun to look into this topic is aware that it is not as fully developed as other mental disorders.
Do expert scientists in the various fields that you’ve encountered seem to be thinking about the “big picture”? Give an example of such a case.
In the current state of research into Body dysmorphic disorder, I do not think the scientists I have read are looking at the “big picture” just yet. At this point of time, scientists are still reaching to find conclusive evidence on the various hypotheses about BDD. An example of scientists thinking about the “bigger picture” is when I took a glance into articles on comorbidity of BDD and Major depressive disorder. In these few articles, many of the researchers were looking into how these two disorders being diagnosed together could affect the population of patients in the future. Along with those patients they also looked at heredity of the disorders and how genetics would play a part to continue these issues into the future generations.