Medical Minute: Body Image Disturbance

German adult film star Carolin Berger was never quite happy with her new breasts, even after undergoing 5 breast enhancement surgeries. So she opted for a sixth surgery hoping that would do the trick. Berger, who worked under the pr0n name Cora, died on Jan. 20 due to complications surrounding her sixth breast enhancement surgery.

She was 23.

This sad case illustrates the importance of educating the public about Body Image Disturbance (BID), or Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).

How many times have you heard a friend say that her nose is too wide or her breasts are too small, when they look perfectly proportioned to you?

Acording to AtHealth.com:

Body image may be seen as “disturbed” when one’s self-evaluation of appearance is at such a level that it interferes with social and/or occupational functioning, or causes elevated levels of anxiety and depression in the individual.

J. Kevin Thompson, PhD, co-author of Exacting Beauty: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment of Body Image Disturbance, explains that people who suffer from this disorder tend to focus irrationally on one or more of the following body sites: hair, nose, skin, eyes, thighs, abdomen, breast size or shape, buttocks, lips, chin, scars, height, and teeth.

These women will spend their life savings (or beg, borrow or steal) to surgically “correct” the body part that they believe renders them imperfect.

Assuring the BDD sufferer that she looks great won’t do any good because she suffers from a mental disorder that limits her ability to visualize herself realistically.

According to Dr. Thompson, “almost everyone has some body feature that they would like to modify.” But in the case of the BDD sufferer, they will “go to great lengths to modify the body site (via surgery, exercise, diet, etc.) or cover the feature (via make-up, clothing).”

There is no known cause of BID or BDD, and no known factors that might predispose a person to BID or BDD.

But most sufferers tend to be attractive people who were frequently told how beautiful they were when they were growing up.

This is why it is SO important to instruct your family and friends not to praise your child or focus on your child’s attractiveness because children at that age are unable to process or handle that information the way adults can.

Some adults feel uncomfortable when they receive compliments on their beauty. Imagine how a small child must feel.

This world is full of Halle Berry’s and Cora’s who are psychologically damaged by adults who were captivated by their beauty as children. Don’t let this happen to your child.

This has been your Medical Minute.

PLEASE NOTE:
Any medical information published on this blog is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with your personal physician or a health care provider.

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Oprah’s Half-Sister Turned Down Tabloid Cash

Yesterday, talk Diva Oprah Winfrey, 56, revealed a family secret that her mother gave birth to a baby girl and gave the child up for adoption when Oprah was only 9. Oprah proudly introduced her half-sister, Patricia, to the world on her Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) yesterday.

Almost immediately, skeptics assumed that Patricia, 47, came forward to lay claim to Oprah’s abundant wealth. But the truth is that Patricia doesn’t want any money or Oprah’s favorite things: she just wants to know her sister.

Patricia, cared so much about her sister’s privacy and reputation that she turned down a blockbuster offer from a tabloid magazine to expose the truth.

“All Patricia wanted was the truth,” an insider tells me. “She wasn’t interested in selling her story even for a million dollars. She just wanted to know who she was, where she came from and if she had any brothers or sisters. She had no idea when she started this search she would end up being Oprah Winfrey’s half-sister.” READ MORE

This heartwarming story proves that not everyone is motivated by money, greed and material things.

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Celeb Style: chris brown in MCM

Troubled singer chris brown, 21, was spotted outside his New York hotel wearing a trendy MCM cognac TI$A backpack. I told you about the resurgence of this popular backpack late last year when I noticed several celebs wearing one.

MCM was all the rage back when I was in high school, but the brand fizzled out in the late 80s. I called the NY MCM flagship store yesterday and they confirmed that this backpack is sold out everywhere. Had you acted quickly when I first told you, this backpack could have been yours for a mere $450. Luckily, I got mine before the stampede.

Photos: The Media Circuit/INFphoto.com/INF PHOTO and Splash News

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Carl Tyson Confronts His Daughter’s Kidnapper in Court

I realize I’m late with this story, but bear with me and you’ll see why I’m writing this so late.

Carl Tyson, the father of kidnap victim Carlina White Tyson, leaves the US Federal Courthouse in New York yesterday after an arraignment hearing for Ann Pettway.

Carlina White Tyson, now 23, was 19 days old when she was allegedly snatched by Pettway from Harlem Hospital twenty-three years ago.

Carlina was raised as “Nejdra Nance” in Bridgeport, Connecticut, just 45 minutes away from where her parents lived. Tyson and Joy White, Carlina’s parents, separated a year after she was abducted. They both married other people and raised their own families. In 1992, Tyson and White were awarded $750,000 in damages by Harlem Hospital.

Carlina was reunited with her biological parents last week after she logged onto a missing children’s website and found baby pictures that resembled herself and her 5-year-old daughter, Samani.

“I found out while I was pregnant. That lady told me she wasn’t my mother,” said Carlina of the woman who posed as a phony nurse when she stole Carlina from the hospital at 3:00 a.m.

The troubling aspect of this case is that Carlina reached out to Oprah Winfrey last year in hopes of finding her birth parents, but she received no reply. We all know that if Carlina was a white child with blond hair and blue eyes, Oprah would have responded personally, and this case would have been resolved before Christmas.

Click link to read more

Read more…

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Texting lady may have fallen into mall fountain intentionally

The woman who fell into a mall fountain while texting on her cell phone has revealed herself. According to online reports, Cathy Cruz Marrero is the so-called “fountain lady” who is seen in a viral video falling head first into a mall fountain while supposedly distracted by her handheld device.

The video garnered millions of views on YouTube and other online video streaming websites.

But there’s more to the story: the woman works at the mall, which means she should have been familiar with the mall’s layout even with her eyes closed.

After taking a dunk in the fountain, Marrero showed up later that same day in court to answer to credit card fraud charges. It seems Marrero was charged with allegedly using a co-worker’s credit card to make purchases in the same store where they both worked.

In addition to that, Marrero has been arrested multiple times over the years for theft and other crimes. So it should come as no surprise that she hired an attorney the same day she fell into the fountain. She is now suing the mall for putting the fountain in her way while she was texting.

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PEOPLE credits Sandrarose.com with Monica & Shannon story

Monica, who also Tweets her love for Brown (and showed off a huge diamond ring in October), is mom to two young sons, Rodney III and Romelo Montez [by rapper Rodney "Rocko" Hill], who were featured on her reality show The Single: Monica.

Thanks for the tip Ebony!

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Is This a Joke?

Gay officers on parade? This video has to be fake. I can hardly believe the Atlanta Police Department would allow an active officer to disrespect his uniform in this manner. What happened to professionalism on the job?

Thanks to loyal reader Clarence M for sending this in.

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