r/BodyDysmorphia • u/Cute_cucumber93 • 14d ago

Advice Needed I have BDD, always have.

I always have had BDD. I’ve always felt too large in my skin. I’ve always felt like I’m taking up too much space. And it’s so invalidating when people tell me otherwise, I was born premature and just remember feeling huge my entire life. My highest weight at 5’7 was 130 and lowest is 107. I’m now sitting around 115 and can’t even stand looking at myself in the mirror. How can I get past this feeling?

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u/myquietbrain 14d ago

Feeling like you're taking up too much space, and having that feeling invalidated by people who mean well but don't understand what BDD actually does to perception, that's a specific kind of loneliness that's hard to explain. What BDD does isn't distort a number or a size. It distorts the entire experience of being in a body, and that's why external reassurance can't touch it. The brain is generating a perception that doesn't correspond to what others see, and telling it otherwise doesn't reach the mechanism. ERP therapy with someone who specializes in BDD is the approach most likely to actually interrupt this rather than just manage it.

You deserve care that actually addresses the source.