Attentional biases in body dysmorphic disorder (bdd): Eye-tracking using the emotional stroop task

Attentional anomalies are known to underlie diverse psychopathology. In body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), characterised by repetitive behaviours and/or mental acts occurring in response to preoccupations with perceived defects or flaws in physical appearance [1], this forms no exception. These difficulties may not only manifest as faulty cognitive appraisals, during which patients focus wholly on their perceived “flaw(s)” to the exclusion of the rest of their physical appearance, but can also reinforce such erroneous beliefs via misinterpretation of cues involving social acceptance and feedback.

Source: Comprehensive Psychiatry - January 22, 2017 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Wei Lin Toh, David J. Castle, Susan L. Rossell Source Type: research