Therapists/Clinicians

Surgery can be lifesaving. Surgery is often needed and can, for many conditions and situations, be a game changer. But more often than not, a surgical procedure for someone with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) will not help. It could potentially relieve the person of their symptoms for a short amount of time but it cannot treat or cure the underlying disorder.

Although primary care physicians and other non-specialists in mental health feel comfortable managing less complicated anxiety-related disorders, OCD is a more complex diagnosis and ideally should be managed by a psychiatrist.  Before initiating medication, the psychiatrist will first do a thorough assessment to ensure that the diagnosis of OCD is accurate, and to determine the presence of coexisting conditions that may complicate the treatment.

Intensive programs for OCD can serve as a bridge between different levels of care, specifically as a step-up from weekly outpatient therapy or as a step-down from partial hospitalization/residential programs.

There can be confusion when differentiating between body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and eating disorders (EDs). They both involve pre-occupying appearance-related thoughts and repetitive behaviours, but are treated differently.

According to the DSM 5, Body focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) are classified as obsessive–compulsive related disorders. But the question remains, how do we treat BFRBs?

Dr. Widge presented at ADAA’s 2023 conference on how he believes “mental disorders are brain network disorders” and how treatments like Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) are quite possibly the wave of the future for certain mood and anxiety disorders, and particularly those that are treatment-resistant. 

Therapy can vary from patient to patient, clinician to clinician, but two ADAA members who presented at the 2023 Annual Conference believe therapy for SAD and other related disorders can benefit from an additional tool. Their conference session, Me Talk Funny One Day: Teaching Social Skills for Social Anxiety and Other Disorders, not only confirmed that belief but explained it.

Now that telehealth and in-person services are available, what are important factors for clinicians, youth, and families to consider?

The headlines and the CDC report are indeed alarming, but they should serve as a wakeup call to all of us. Yes, we should think seriously about why we are seeing a steep decline in the mental health of teenage girls, but we have to come together now as parents, family, friends, educators, clinicians, providers, and as a society to support, enhance and establish more preventive measures for our youth.