OVERVIEW
This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is body dysmorphic disorder. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how body dysmorphic disorder will be characterized on standardized exams (namely the boards and the shelf exams). This page is not meant to be used as a tradition question bank (as all of the answers will be the same), however seeing the classic “test” characterization for a disease is quite valuable.
QUESTION EXAMPLES
Question # 1
A 16-year-old girl comes to the clinic complaining that her face is “completely messed up” and that she looks like “Frankenstein, like a monster.” On examination, the girl is a pleasant-looking young woman with no facial deformities of any kind. The physician is not able to re-assure the patient that there are no observable deformities of the face. What is the most likely explanation for this patient’s presentation?
Question # 2
A 25-year-old woman presents to her physician with the about the way she looks. She notes that for “as long as she can remember,” she has been obsessed about the fact there is something “off” about her face. She believes that her eyes are too far apart and her nose is crooked. She states that this concern is “ruining her life” because she spends all her time hiding from others so that they cannot see her face. The physician does not notice any abnormalities about the patient’s face, but the patient is not consoled by this statement. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?
Page Updated: 09.15.2016