Body dysmorphic disorder
Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health condition defined by someone exaggerating the degree to which flaws in their appearance are unattractive, or imagining flaws in their appearance.
Significance for incels[edit | edit source]
Most people labeled BDD actually do have flaws in their appearance, and for men who have trouble finding dates, these flaws, which might have been minor in the pre-internet era, can be a deal-breaker for pretty much all femoids in online dating apps, where all dating is moving to. Therefore, BDD is most often not BDD, but a rational evaluation of how their appearance causes women to reject them on online dating (and sometimes in real life too).
In other words, because men are not very stingy in what they are attracted to, women evaluating one of their minor physical flaws as unattractive is usually irrational. On the other hand, because women are much stingier than men (for the same group of men), men evaluating a minor physical flaw in themselves as unattractive is usually rational.
That being said, people are fairly bad judging their physical attractiveness, especially men.[1][2] However, especially ugly people tend to see themselves as more attractive than they are, rather than good looking people believing they are uglier than they are.[1]
Body Dysmorphia Treatment[edit | edit source]
When Psychiatrists diagnose BDD on men who worry about their phyisical flaw after being rejected mutiple times, they are likely to treat the body dysmorphic disorder with antidepressants and improve the quality of life, decreasing anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. [1] Cognitive behavioral therapy is also particularly effective, as most suffers of body dysmorphia have poor insight, cognitive distortions and flawed belief systems that fuel their body dysmorphia [2].