Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:1665-1667
Copyright © 1995 by American Psychiatric Association
Body dysmorphic disorder in patients with anxiety disorders and major depression: a comorbidity study
O Brawman-Mintzer, RB Lydiard, KA Phillips, A Morton, V Czepowicz, N Emmanuel, G Villareal, M Johnson and JC Ballenger
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425-0742, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated the frequency of body dysmorphic disorder
in patients with a primary diagnosis of anxiety disorders and major
depression. METHOD: Patients with social phobia (N = 54),
obsessive-compulsive disorder (N = 53), generalized anxiety disorder (N =
32), panic disorder (N = 47), and major depression (N = 42) and normal
comparison subjects (N = 33) were studied. RESULTS: Body dysmorphic
disorder was most common in patients with social phobia (11%) and
obsessive-compulsive disorder (8%); it was less prevalent among patients
with panic disorder (2%), generalized anxiety disorder (0%), and major
depression (0%) and among normal subjects (0%). CONCLUSIONS: These findings
suggest that body dysmorphic disorder may share etiologic elements with
social phobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
