Background: Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is characterized by appearance concerns and a preoccupation with thinking and
behaviors related to this concern. Several population-based studies show that BDD has a prevalence of 1.5 - 2% in the population, is
associated with severe suffering, and that suicidal ideation and attempts are overrepresented compared to a normal population. Despite
this, BDD is commonly missed in diagnostic evaluations and in view of the high degree of suffering and increased risk of suicide,
improving recognition and diagnosis is an important task for psychiatrists. This following text describes an approach to a diagnostic
work-up of BDD in a psychiatric setting.
Material and Method: A narrative review of the literature is included.
Results: A description of the diagnostic work-up to improve recognition and early initiation of treatment is provided.
Conclusion: By introducing questions about appearance concerns as a routine in the diagnostic work-up of psychiatric disorders,
this will help to better identify patients with BDD. These questions may be followed up by questionnaires for screening of BDD. A
positive response leads to a more thorough interview, the use of diagnostic tools and a psychiatric examination. Excluding differential
diagnoses such as OCD and schizophrenia is an integer part of the complete diagnostic process.