Because I am Ugly: Body Dysmorphic Disorder and me

An animation by Salvador Maldonado and Caterina Monzani in collaboration with the BDD Foundation

Because I’m Ugly: Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Me explores the challenges of living with BDD, a disorder where a person becomes very preoccupied with one or more features in their physical appearance (e.g. nose, skin, hair, etc) and engages in time-consuming repetitive behaviours to fix or hide their perceived flaw/s (e.g. excessive mirror checking, grooming rituals, seeking reassurance etc). The animation is built around the real life testimony of Elias, a 17 years old boy with BDD, whose story shows us how the condition manifests. The animation follows his story from initial signs to full blown obsession and through his treatment and recovery process.