Body dysmorphic disorder has been officially recognized since 1987, receiving a permanent resting place amongst the somatoform disorders in the DSM-III. Disorders placed in this category, such as hypochondriasis, somatization disorder and conversion disorder, generally manifest themselves in physical symptoms;  BDD is no exception—any aspect of bodily appearance (usually unchangeable ones) can be the cause of concern and trigger obsessive/compulsive thoughts and behaviors.

Although BDD has just recently been accepted as an actual diagnosis, it has been lurking around, and recorded, for well over a century.  Morsellini, an Italian researcher, coined the term dysmorphophobia to describe BDD as early as 1886. Other sources report that Emil Kraeplin, the father of modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology, and psychiatric genetics, was the first to discover the distressing disorder. Even Sigmund Freud claims to have worked with a sufferer of BDD named Sergei Pankejeff, more aptly nicknamed “the wolfman.”. This patient was so preoccupied with the appearance of his nose, he was barely able to function outside of his obsessive thoughts. Recognized in Europe for quite some time, where it received its initial title, dysmorphophobia was eventually renamed body dysmorphic disorder to halt misconceptions of BDD dealing with a behavioral pattern of avoidance.