Has Hollywood's Diet Obsession Forced the US Government to Ta...( National Ins...),Health

National Institute of Mental Health currently conducting a study regarding Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as a treatment for Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Hollywood isn't the only place where unhealthy weight loss is developing into a crisis. BDD is similar to other disorders that respond well to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, including OCD. Dr. Allison Conner provides thoughts on the study.

New York, NY (PRWEB) August 2, 2008 -- In an ongoing study conducted by the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) new treatments for Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) are being carefully examined. BDD is a mental disorder in which and individual has an excessive fixation or preoccupation with a slight or imagined physical flaw that results in emotional and social distress. Often there is a fixation on weight loss, dieting, and a belief that one is fat when in fact one may be anorexic. The media buzz surrounding BDD has grown exponentially in recent years as Hollywood has reinforced the belief that "thin is in." The disease has high instances of comorbidity and is very often found in association with eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

In its study, the NIMH is focusing on the benefits of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for patients suffering from BDD. Cognitive Therapy is a state-of-the-art, highly effective approach to psychological treatment. It is essentially a method that identifies and helps a person to correct specific errors in what he or she is thinking that produces negative or painful feelings. These erroneous or distorted thoughts also influence the person on a behavioral level, and result in maladaptive choices or reactions. CBT helps to correct those thoughts through an intervention of an individual's thinking.

According to the NIMH website, the premise of the experiment is as follows: "Participants will be randomly assigned (like the flip of a c
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