Customer Reviews

The Broken Mirror: Understanding and Treating Body Dysmorphic Disorder

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I am a 26 year old woman who has struggled with BBD for many years. I thought I was absolutly crazy until I happend to pick this book up about 6 years ago and found that other people are just like me. It has forever changed me since then. It has given me a name for my actions and piece of mind knowing that I am not alone. I have found strength in this book and can now happily say that I am recovering and functioning again in society as a "normal" person. I was housebound for years and lived in my own created prison. I was literally trapped in the mirror and thought I was a monster and had to hide from the world. Now I know what I have and this book has helped my friends and family better understand my struggles. BBD is just now starting to be talked about, but when I bought this book it was a topic people didnt know about or discussed. Now when I watch TV I can point out others that probably have it too (the woman who was on Oprah who has ungone countless surgeries to look like a Barbie doll and Michael Jackson) maybe they too could get their life back if this was more known about. I see them and connect with them and want to help because I felt that pain once too. This book is a start about getting the word out there. The more information that is out there the better. Just knowing you have this is half of it and admiting to it. This book helped me do that.

The book itself provides an indepth look at BDD, my wife was recently diagnosed with the disorder. However, the book simply tells you about the symptoms and what the patient is going through. It provide little insight on obtaining help. My wife met with the author Katherine Phillips but was only offered a place in her new study for her new book. I feel that writing about the disorder is just that. Nobody seems to be offering a solution. For the price, it's a good book to share with freinds and family to help them understand the pain and stress the disorder puts on everday life. Thanks.

Now in a revised and expanded edition, The Broken Mirror: Understanding And Treating Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a close examination of body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD, in which sufferers become so obsessed with perceived flaws in their appearance as to experience disruption or depression in their lives. All too often those afflicted with BDD are too embarrassed to speak of their concerns. Katharine Phillips, M.D., author and director of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Body Image Program at Butler Hospital in Rhode Island, brings her expertise to bear on this comprehensive general text for psychologists and lay readers alike. Chapters include testimonies of people with BDD, definitions and how to diagnose BDD, causes of BDD, how BDD can be treated with medication or cognitive-behavioral therapy, how BDD relates to anorexia nervosa, obsessive compulsive disorder and other conditions, advice for family members and friends of those with BDD, and more. Presenting a complex medical and psychological problem without straying into excessively technical language, The Broken Mirror is highly recommended.

"The Broken Mirror" is clearly and concisely written, gives numerous case studies and takes the reader through the diagnostic reasoning in each case. But, far too much information is rehashed, and the early chapters aren't substantively different than the latter chapters. For example, the definition of the disease is repeated practially hundreds of times, often with a slightly different meaning, and many of the case studies are too similar to offer new insights.

This is not a self-help book, but it's a far cry from a textbook.

Katharine Phillips's pioneering work on BDD will help to change the lives of many. I have suffered for over a decade with this chronic, annoying condition. Her clinical expertise and innate ability to relate to her readers through various case studies and the personal interactions with her patients leads one to a true understanding of this disorder. But the author goes a step further by providing treatment techniques which the patient & their loved ones can employ to alleviate/eliminate the emotionally painful behaviors caused by BDD. I will read it again and refer to it during the difficult times I have in coping with BDD. wisedumi, Texas

A through, informative, accessible introduction to Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), grounded in Phillips's clinical practice and interviews with patients. Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a psychological disease characterized with an obsession with perceived flaws in the sufferer's appearance. In reality these flaws are minimal or nonexistent, yet to the sufferer they are very real and can create extreme anxiety, obsessive thoughts, and compulsive behaviors. Phillips's book was the only one of its kind when originally published and is still one of the few books about BDD. She provides a well-written and researched introduction to all aspects of BDD, including diagnostic criteria, signs of the disease, and the impact of the disease on suffers as well as friends and family. At the end of the book she discusses treatment of BDD, but this section is limited by the lack of research done on treatment and remission. Despite this hole, the book is a well-rounded and educational introduction to the disorder, conveying both statistics and emotional impact and proving a lot of information about the how, why, and what of BDD. I highly recommend it to those interested in the subject.

My interest in BDD is primarily academic and casual, therefore I cannot give feedback on this book based on either personal experience of psychological knowledge. The Broken Mirror, however, is an approachable introduction to those with no knowledge about the subject. Phillips starts from square one, giving a number of descriptions of what BDD looks like, how it effects patients, and how crippling it can be. These patient histories are so prevalent they can get tedious, bu they do a fair job of introducing the subject and impressing its severity and reality on to even the causal reader. The body of the book is a through description of BDD: what it is, how it is diagnosed, the thoughts and behaviors it contains, the impact of those thoughts and behaviors, who suffers from BDD, where the disorder originates, and finally how it can be treated. The writing style is clear and simple, important points are highlighted and chapters and subheading are logically divided, sections end with a complete summary, and the appendixes and index are useful and complete.

For all of the strengths of the book, the section on treating BDD is unfortunately its weakness. The book was written ten years ago, before much study had been done on treating BDD, and so most of the information and recommendations comes from Phillips's own practice and observations. Even now then years later, research on the treatment of BDD and long-term nature of the disorder is severely lacking. All in all, Phillips's advice is good: she encourages sufferers to seek help, a good idea no matter what form of treatment they seek, and provides information and suggestions for the friends and family of BDD sufferers about how to provide support, encourage the sufferer to seek help, and maintain a healthy relationship with the sufferer. Hopefully as more research is done we will know more about BDD treatment options and effectiveness, but for now Phillips's book provides a number of suggestions to point patients in the right direction, and it is far better than nothing.

I highly recommend this book to those interested in BDD and also (although I speak without any personal experience) to sufferers and especially to their friends and family. Not only is Broken Mirror a wealth of information about the disorder, it also provides comfort to suffers and information to friends and family, validating the disease, describing others's experiences with BDD and what we know about the causes of it, and creating compassion for the disorder. Because the perceived physical defect in BDD isn't apparent to others, BDD can be a difficult disease to understand, accept, or help with; Phillips does a lot to right that wrong by providing information and compassionate insight. Although the book is a bit repetitive and the therapy section limited, this is a well-rounded and useful introduction to the subject and should be useful to curious, sufferers, and those who are impacted by it alike.

I purchased this book 12 yrs. ago when it was first published, and was moved to tears many times while reading it. That copy was read and reread so many times, that I had to purchase another. I am a parent of a BDD sufferer (gender withheld), and have suffered with that family member as the BDD took hold in mid-teens (always thought it was a passing phase then), and for the many years that followed. Dr. Phillips has written a compassionate and understanding book on a subject that had never been brought into the light of today's society. Reading it makes me realize how many others out there suffer as our now middle-aged child has suffered through all these years. Dr. Phillips gives sound advice to those who are spouses, parents, children or friends who are related or connected to a BDD victim. This book offers hope and guidance...a must read for any BDD sufferer and for those who--like me--suffer along with them.

I read "The Broken Mirror" by Katharine A. Phillips and considered the book to be most informative. I have seen this problem in several of my clients and have started recommending the book as a resource for help. The author did a great job uncovering the root causes behind this problem and offered keen insight into medical and theraputic treatments.

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John D. Moore
Author of Confusing Love with Obsession

If you are reading a review of this book, you must have heard something about Body Dysmorphic Disorder that caught your attention. My young son was finally diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder when he was 20 years old. He had been suffering for many years and his suffering had led to very dysfunctional behavior including drug abuse, the inability to go to school, to keep a job, or to cooperate with us enough for him to be able to live at home. He had walked away from drug treatment programs that focused first on the drug abuse and not on the underlying anxiety disorder. We had seen and worked with several different therapists during his life. He was always anxious and shy. No one ever asked any of the questions that would have pointed to the diagnosis of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. He even tried to talk to me about his fears that there was something wrong with different body parts and I had no clue what he was trying to tell me and I just reassured him that "everyone is not perfectly proportional" or that "everyone thinks there is something wrong with their body as they are growing up." Once he was diagnosed, the psychiatrist gave him an article about BDD which included this author's name. My son was able to call and talk with her, which helped him begin to feel he was not alone and not crazy. I purchased this book for him and we both read it. It is true, the book does not outline therapy and is not a form of therapy. We were able to find a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist who specialized in BDD and related disorders. She was helpful, but not the whole answer, either. This is a disorder that causes its sufferers great pain, and its suffering is extremely difficult for other people to understand. My son just turned 21 and he is doing well now. I think this book can be one important part in understanding BDD and searching for your own path to healthy functioning if you or someone you love suffers from BDD.

Recommended by my doctor. I am overweight but not as much as I think. I obsess about it and she thought this would be a good read for me. It was. I realized not everyone looks at me and thinks, "there goes the fat girl."