"Body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD, is a disease that causes sufferers to be obsessed by perceived flaws in their appearance. In the original edition of The Broken Mirror, the first book ever written on the topic of BDD, Dr. Katharine Phillips brought readers an authoritative and comprehensive guide to this often-debilitating illness. Like the original, this Revised and Expanded Edition draws on Dr. Phillips' years of clinical practice and scientific research, including professional evaluations of approximately 900 individuals with BDD. Phillips describes severe cases, but also a multitude of milder cases. Whereas some sufferers are debilitated by their concerns, others are able to function well in society, but remain secretly obsessed by their "hideous acne" or "horrible nose," sneaking constant peeks at a pocket mirror, or spending hours at a time redoing makeup. BDD may afflict as much as two percent of the population - nearly 6 million people."--BOOK JACKET.

Katharine A. Phillips is Director of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Body Image Program at Butler Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, and Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown Medical School.