Body Dysmorphic Disorder Insights in an InpatientPsychiatric Setting

Body dysmorphic disorder is a chronic disorder involving imagined or partial appearance defects that lead to significantimpairment in everyday life. It is quite prevalent but remains a clinically underdiagnosed psychiatric condition especially in theinpatient psychiatric setting. Onset of body dysmorphic disorder typically begins in adolescence with subclinical symptoms.Over time, symptoms progress to patients meeting the fullDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition(DSM-5) criteria. Severe cases of the body dysmorphic disorder are often camouflaged by concurrent diseases like majordepressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance use disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Further, compoundingthe complexity of body dysmorphic disorder is a treatment of patients who present with coinciding suicidal ideations. Here, wepresent a unique case of a 40-year-old female admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit for treatment of ongoing depression andsuicidal symptoms. Early on in her inpatient course, she had symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxietydisorder, and alcohol use disorder. The constellation of symptoms prompted evaluation for body dysmorphic disorder andsubsequent targeted treatment. This case report highlights the complexities associated with diagnosing body dysmorphicdisorder, the importance of considering it a branch point for other psychiatric conditions, and the treatment for patients whopresent with coinciding suicidal behavior