Fatal Body Dysmorphic Disorder by Proxy

Letter to the Editor

Sir: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is an underrecognized disorder characterized by a distressing or impairing preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect in one’s appearance. Several cases of "BDD by proxy" have been described in which an individual is overly concerned about the appearance of another person who looks normal. We describe a case of BDD by proxy that resulted in suicide. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a fatal outcome resulting from this variant of BDD.