TABLE 2.

Questions to Aid in Diagnosing Body Dysmorphic Disorder

1.	“Are you very worried about your appearance in anyway?” Or: “Are you unhappy with how you look?”
2.	Invite the patient to describe their concern by asking, “What don't you like about how you look?” Or: “Can you tell me a bout your concern?”
3.	Ask if there are other disliked body areas—for example, “Are you unhappy with any other aspects of your appearance, such as your face, skin, hair, nose, or the shape or size of any other body area?”
4.	Ascertain that the patient is preoccupied with these perceived flaws by asking, “How much time would you estimate that you spend each day thin king a bout your appearance, if you add up all the time you spend?” Or: “Do these concerns preoccupy you?”
5.	Ask, “How much distress do these concerns cause you?” Ask specifically about resulting anxiety, social anxiety, depression, feelings of panic, and suicidal thinking.
6.	Ask about effects of the appearance preoccupations on the patient's life—for example, “Do these concerns interfere with your life or cause problems for you in anyway?” Ask specifically about effects on work, school, other aspects of role functioning (e.g., caring for children), relationships, intimacy, family and social activities, household tasks, and other types of interference.
7.	While compulsive behaviors are not required for the diagnosis, most patients perform at least one of them (usually many); ask about the most common ones: camouflaging, comparing, mirror checking, excessive grooming, reassurance seeking, touching the disliked body areas, clothes changing, skin picking, tanning, dieting, excessive exercise, and excessive weight lifting.