"People with body dysmorphia may frequently ask others for reassurance that their perceived body 'defect' is invisible to others. This can alienate people and make the distorted beliefs stronger in the long term," Dr. Harris told POPSUGAR. In other words, if you start to make people uncomfortable, they may begin to dodge your questions — which may only make may feel more confident that something is wrong.
What Can Help
"Engage with others around things that are important to you instead of asking others to comment on your body," Dr. Harris said. "Having others comment on your body can strengthen the associations with body parts and self-worth, so we want to de-pair those associations."
Instead of making any references to your body, talk about something you watched recently, or ask your friend or loved one how they're doing at work or in school. You can also do something fun together to take your mind off whatever's brewing inside.