THE HISTORY OF BDD

Before 1987, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (Bdd) was referred to as Dysmorphophobia, so named by Italian psychopathologist Enrique Morselli in 1891. The name is derived from the Greek word, 'dismorfia' - 'dis' meaning abnormal or apart, and 'morpho' meaning shape.

Morselli described persons with a subjective feeling of ugliness or with a slight physical defect considered abnormal by the patient but undetectable by others. He stated that these people felt miserable, were tormented by their imagined defect, and were consumed by thoughts of this defect in any situation.

Psychologist Sigmund Freud once had a patient, 'see above,' who would today be diagnosed with Bdd. He described this patient whom he referred to as the 'Wolf man,' to protect his identity,as having classical symptoms of Bdd. The 'Wolf man' was a wealthy Russian aristocrat, real name Sergei Pankejeff, who was preoccupied with his nose, and believed that it was so ugly that he avoided all public life and work. It was noted that Pankejeff suffererd from severe depression and nervous problems. Pankejeff once said that he felt there was a veil cutting him off from the world.

A few years after finishing psychoanalysis with Freud, Pankejeff developed psychotic delusion. He was observed walking the streets staring at his reflection in a mirror, convinced that some sort of doctor had drilled a hole in his nose.

Pankejeff would later publish his own work under Freud's given pseudonym, and would be in contact with Freudian disciples until his own death (undergoing analysis for six decades, despite Freud's pronouncement of his being "cured"), making him one of the longest-running famous patients in the history of psychoanalysis.

Sergei Pankejeff, died in Vienna on May 7, 1979, at the age of 92.