Violence may be serious in men with body dysmorphic disorder

doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7338.678/b

BMJ 2002;324:678 ( 16 March )

Letters

Violence may be serious in men with body dysmorphic disorder

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Phillip and Castle in their editorial on body dysmorphic disorder in men said that patients disappointed with ineffectivesurgical or dermatological treatment may become violent towardsthe treating physician.¹ There are grounds for consideringthat violence may be a more serious problem in this disorder thanhitherto recognised, especially in view of the associated useof anabolicsteroids.

I have reported the case of a patient with body dysmorphic disorder whose violence against others led to his compulsory detentionin a secure unit under the Mental Health Act.² My review ofthe literature on body dysmorphic disorder suggested violenceto be more common in the condition than previouslyrecognised.

Perugi et al found that 29% of 34 men and 46% of 24 women with body dysmorphic disorder responded affirmatively to at leastone of the following questions: "Are you ever so enraged and indespair that you lose control and . . . [Full text of this article]