Beating BDD

A psychotherapist and the founder and director of the Los Angeles BDD & Body Image Clinic, Arie has dedicated his career to working with people with BDD. In this episode, he shares some of the fascinating insights he's gained from those thousands of hours of experience.

After suffering with BDD for many years, Tilly is now reaping the benefits of all the time and effort she put into recovering from the condition. Her story proves that if you keep putting in the work, you will get something out of it.

Eva has been recovered from BDD for 20 years, so brings loads of wisdom and experience to this episode. (Which is number 27, not 26, as I say in the intro!) It's a little different from the others in that Eva tells us her story directly, in four parts.   

George shares his lived experience of muscle dsymorphia, dips into the huge amount of knowledge he's gained and explains why he's made it his life's work to raise awareness and improve treatment of the condition.

Rachel shares her experience of BDD and how everything from working at a cat hotel to learning ballroom dancing has helped her to manage the disorder and find joy.

Simon describes how the brutal bullying he suffered at school set him on a long journey with body dysmorphic disorder, which culminated in a transformative stay in psychiatric hospital and writing a book about his experiences. 

Berni hid what she called her “secret shame” for 40 years before discovering she'd been suffering from skin-picking disorder – a common co-morbidity with body dysmorphic disorder that can also manifest on its own. She's since learnt how to say no to the skin-picking voice and has even appeared in a naked calendar.

Ten years ago, Andy used to spend eight hours a day in front of the mirror and couldn't imagine ever being able to function. Now, he works full time and describes himself as 90% to 95% recovered from body dysmorphic disorder

Flora suffered with body dysmorphic disorder alongside an eating disorder until just 18 months ago. Since then, she's made truly inspirational progress is overcoming BDD, and built up a personal toolkit of tricks that will be really helpful to listeners.

In his interview, Elias describes how doing exposures was a huge help in recovering from body dysmorphic disorder

In her interview, Nicole talks about her lived experience of BDD and anorexia and how it's informed the life she lives now.

In this episode, Professor David Veale talks about how he came to specialise in BDD, and answers questions from people with the condition.

As head of operations for the BDD Foundation in the UK, Kitty Wallace supports sufferers and their families, raises awareness of the condition and much more. But she’s also had her own experience of living with BDD. Her story shows that recovery may not always be a straight line, but it’s always possible.

Rebecca suffered from BDD for many years, alongside issues with alcohol and food. It was only when she realised the BDD was driving the other issues that she was able to make real and inspiring progress.

This is the second part of a conversation between two mums whose daughters are in recovery from BDD. In it, Scarlett and Frances discuss how schools can help or hinder, how to support someone through treatment and the importance of setting small goals.

In this episode, the first of two, Scarlet and Frances describe how they coped with having daughters with severe BDD.

In this episode, Tim describes the debilitating effect BDD had on his life for 15 years, and how he recovered.

In this episode, you’ll hear how Oliver Butcher's experience of BDD affected the lives of his mum Debbie and his older brother Daniel.

In the second part of my interview with Oliver, you’ll hear him describe the self-abuse that was part of his BDD, how that affected his family and the advice he’d give anyone suffering from the disorder.

For this episode – the first of two – I spoke to Oliver Butcher, who’s currently in the middle of treatment for his BDD. You’ll find the second half of Oliver’s interview in episode 11.

In the second part of his interview, Omari describes the things that helped him most in treatment and beyond, and gives some valuable advice to anyone trying to help a loved one with BDD.

In the first half of his interview, Omari describes what recovery means to him and how BDD affected his life, including his romantic relationships.

Alex describes how his BDD developed and how shaving his head helped him to recover.

Alanah speaks very openly about the years she spent being housebound, and the incredible progress she's made in recovering from BDD.

Callum shares his BDD story and how his recent course of CBT therapy has helped him on the road to recovery.

Gareth describes his journey from being too ill with BDD to work to becoming a CBT therapist.

In this third episode, Hannah Lewis explains how she's turned her experience of BDD into a career helping to prevent others from developing the disorder.  

In this second episode, Minnie Iris tells us about her experience of BDD and how exciting life feels now she's almost completely recovered.  

In this first episode, we talk to therapist Rob Willson about how to recognise and treat the disorder - and what to do with all that spare attention when you're cured.  

We explain what we're trying to achieve with the podcast and why - plus how you can contribute.