{"id":632253,"date":"2026-09-22T08:06:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T08:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/632253\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T08:06:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T08:06:44","slug":"cosmetic-procedures-shouldnt-be-performed-on-patients-with-body-dysmorphia-health-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/632253\/","title":{"rendered":"Cosmetic procedures \u2018shouldn\u2019t be performed on patients with body dysmorphia\u2019, health officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Health officials have advised that people seeking cosmetic procedures ought to be screened for body dysmorphic disorder<\/a> (BDD).<\/p>\n

If a patient is likely to have BDD then healthcare workers should not carry out a procedure and refer the patient to a specialist, according to new draft guidance aimed to improve identification of BDD and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).<\/p>\n

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidance further recommends that medical staff consider evaluating patients presenting with anxiety and depression for both OCD and BDD.<\/p>\n

Those with autism<\/a> or ADHD<\/a> may also need to be assessed.<\/p>\n

OCD is a mental health condition where a person has obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours.<\/p>\n

And BDD, also known as body dysmorphia<\/a>, is a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance.<\/p>\n

Nice said that healthcare professionals \u201cdo not routinely ask about or explore whether people have intrusive thoughts, images, urges, impulses, doubts, or worries about appearance\u201d as it called for more to be done to help identify cases.<\/p>\n

People with these symptoms may not disclose them unless specifically asked, Nice said.<\/p>\n

Its new draft guideline calls on healthcare workers to consider assessing for the condition among those who are at higher risk.<\/p>\n

\"AndAnd BDD, also known as body dysmorphia, is a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Nice said health workers who provide cosmetic procedures should ask patients structured questions about appearance-related concerns before carrying out a cosmetic procedure.<\/p>\n

If the responses indicate a person may have BDD they should be referred for specialist assessment before proceeding with the procedure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf BDD is suspected, they should not perform the procedure because it may reinforce or worsen BDD-related distress and behaviours,\u201d the guidance states.<\/p>\n

Nice said that there is an \u201cunder-recognition\u201d of OCD and BDD.<\/p>\n

It called on healthcare workers to normalise people\u2019s experiences \u201cas much as possible\u201d highlighting how many people can experience \u201cstigma shame and fear of judgment\u201d.<\/p>\n

It if hoped that the new guideline will help people be identified sooner before their symptoms become more severe.<\/p>\n

OCD is estimated to affect about 1.2% of people while BDD affects about 2% of the population.<\/p>\n

Eric Power, interim director of the Centre for Guidelines at Nice, said: \u201cPeople with obsessive compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder can experience symptoms for a long time before they receive the right diagnosis and support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese conditions are often misunderstood, and many people find them difficult to talk about because of embarrassment, shame or fear of being judged.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur draft recommendations aim to help healthcare professionals recognise symptoms earlier, ask the right questions and support people to access appropriate treatment sooner.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarlier identification can help ensure people receive care that reflects their needs, preferences and circumstances, rather than waiting until symptoms become more severe or reach crisis point.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":["post-632253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}