Collaborating with Body Dysmorphic Disorder from California

I am very happy to have Sarah Barron from Health Occupations Students of America to join us to reach more people and making others more knowledgeable about Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).

And without further ado, I would like to introduce my friend, Sarah who is also working to raise the awareness of BDD. She and her team are a part of Health Occupations Students of America and they are working to bring awareness of BDD to the people in our community at a state level and other places of what BDD is.

They organise BDD talk events to speak at schools that are open to the BDD community, their friends and the public. The upcoming talks and workshops will be focus on acknowledging people to start making healthy choice by enhancing the understanding of BDD among the public. Not choices that are just healthy for our body but healthy for our mind. Additionally, they also sit in front of stores and raise money to donate to BDD Foundation to help the BDD victims and their families. They even started a fundraiser to raise money for the foundation. Besides, they also share personal stories of suffering with BDD on social media platforms.

Here are two personal stories from their community:

Charlotte Louise

Her story begins when she started to go to high school. She didn’t feel as pretty and skinny as the other girls. It led her to feeling “disgusted” with her body image and always redoing her makeup/hair to try to look perfect and stunning at school. She wants to look in every reflection but not being vein. The peer pressure from school, social media and society’s high standard of perfection are the key factors that drove her to BDD. She has agreed to join Sarah’s team to help other victims to have a better understanding of BDD
isn’t just attention seeking but a real illness that people do suffer from. However, she is still struggling from BDD but she is willing to help others who suffer to seek help and make this mental condition aware to the community.

Jack Grandchamp

His symptoms of BDD appeared when he was at the age of 11. He felt oddly uncomfortable when wearing a bikini. In his 7th grade year, he finally realized he was transgender and his body dysphoria was at its highest. He feels so much better now since he has addressed the reason for his BDD and got help early on. They also include transgenders into BDD because of how they feel about their bodies and see flaws as severe when their bodies don’t match up with the sex that they really are. He advises people to seek help early and not to be afraid to get help and talk to friends, families or therapists. “I hope this helped at least one person…keep going, I know you can do this.”-He said.

Please go visiting their social media pages and we can strive to make a change together!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bodydysmorphicdisorder/

Instagram: slcbodydysmorphicdisorder

Fundraiser: https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=72947