ABSTRACT
The family history of mental illness can be very valuable information for the treating psychiatrist whose position is to address the psychiatric and medical components of the disorder. A pattern that frequently emanates in the exploration of the body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) patient's family history is that of deficits in parental emotional attunement. Deficiencies in parental-child attunement may interfere with healthy identity development, as is the case in family systems where a parent is over-involved with a child. Not every BDD patient grows up in a family with parents on opposite poles of the emotional continuum, but many do. It is always important for clinicians to have knowledge of the patient's family system and attachment history in order to discern if elements of their BDD profile derive from external source. For BDD patients that live with their immediate families or are enmeshed with them, the author recommends BDD psychosocial education for the family of course with the patient's consent.
