News-Journal from Mansfield, Ohio • 16

NEWS JOURNAL Monday, June 5, 1995 2B MIND BODY AIFA Saddles seofeims, iMikf AiOUNP town LESLIE LAURENCE "She was a beautiful woman, but she was absolutely, completely, 100-percent convinced that she was ugly." Dr. Katharine Phillips, Brown University School of Medicine Universal Press Syndicate more than an hour a day? Do you find it hard to get it off your mind? Is it causing you a lot of distress? Is it interfering with your life in any way? Are you avoiding people or activities because of it?" Anyone who answers yes to these questions should seek help. With a combination of medication such antidepressants as Anafra-nil, Luvox and Prozac and behavior therapy, in which patients are exposed to their supposed physical defects and prevented from checking mirrors and using makeup, no woman need endure what Phillips calls "the distress of imagined ugliness." She was such an attractive child, everyone was certain she would someday become Miss America. But as she grew older she became obsessed with the appearance of her nose. Despite repeated reassurances, she was convinced her nicely proportioned nose was too small.

Three cosmetic surgeries later she complained that her nose was too large and misshapen. "She thought people were laughing at her behind her back," says Dr. Katharine Phillips, assistant professor of psychiatry at Brown University School of Medicine. "She avoided mirrors. She didn't date.

She didn't work. She rarely left her house. She attempted suicide and when asked why, she said, 'I look so "She was a beautiful woman, but she was absolutely, completely, 100-percent convinced that she was ugly." The young woman, whom Dr. Phillips discussed at the recent annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in Mi- ami Beach, is suffering from a condition known as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), characterized by an imaginary defect in one's appearance. "It's such a tormenting, secretive disorder," says Phillips, direc- This attitude is rapidly changing, due largely to research by Hollander, Phillips and others establishing the magnitude of the problem.

BDD, once believed to be rare, is said to affect some 200,000 Americans and an estimated 2 million people in a milder form. Research has also revealed the availability of effective treatments. Studies suggest that BDD symptoms begin at about age 17, and that sufferers typically become preoccupied with three body parts. Women who are afflicted at greater rates than men in college populations but in equal ratios in clinic settings tend to focus on their buttocks, which they believe are too and their breasts, which they often believe are too small, says Hollander. They may also be preoccupied with their nose, stomach, complexion and hair.

One 46-year-old woman at-' tempted suicide after a bad haircut. As their obsessions progress, BDD sufferers -A who have some symptoms in common with obsessive-compulsive disorder engage in a variety of ritualistic behaviors to conceal their imagined defects. For, instance, they may spend hours each day applying makeup and constantly check themselves in mirrors. Typically, tor of Brown's Body Dysmorphic Disorder Program. "There's a high suicide attempt rate and a high rate of depression.

These patients really, really suffer." Although BDD has been described in the medical literature for the past century under a variety of different names, until very recently most physicians hadn't heard of the condition, and even those who were familiar with it had little interest in studying it, says Dr. Eric Hollander, vice chairman of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Hollander scored a coup by helping to convince the APA to offer the first symposium ever on BDD at its annual meeting this year. "I've been trying to do this symposium for three or four years," Hollander says. "Basically, they weren't interested.

There were no treatments available. Why should psychiatrists be interested in this weird, mild cosmetic-type of a problem?" they seek help not from psychiatrists but from dermatologists and plastic surgeons, and undergo multiple surgeries, including breast augmentation, liposuction and rhinoplasty (nose surgery). One of Hollander's patients had an incredible 23 operations. In a study of 91 plastic surgery patients at Mount Sinai, 43 percent were, found to be suffering from BDD, a number researcher Bonnie Aronowitz, Ph.D., says is extremely high. The medical literature suggests that 2 percent of patients who request plastic surgery have BDD.

Given the social pressure on women to be a perfect "10," how can anyone differentiate a healthy from an unhealthy body image? Good question, says Phillips. "Most people, to some degree, are concerned about their appearance," she says. "That's the fascinating thing about BDD. It echoes normal concerns. The question is, where do you draw the line? I would draw the line at: Do you think about it "Appearance Obsession: Learning to.

Love the Way You Look" by Joni E. Johnston (Health Communications, $9.95, 800-851-9100). Sex is tricky parents use plain talk By Horangela Davlla Seattle Times Adults take charge in program to teach teens their children asked them about sex, only one-half of teens had dis Sign-up site designated MANSFIELD A Golden Buckeye Card sign-up site will be held at the Kingsgate Mall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, June 9.

Persons applying for the discount card must be Ohio residents 60 years of age or older or any Ohio resident who is certified totally and permanently disabled and unable to work at any substantially remunerative employment. Applicants 60 years of age or older need to present a valid Ohio driver's license, a birth certificate or other legal document showing a date of birth. Applicants with a total and permanent disability must show proof of disability by presenting documents from a state or federal agency, which has the power to certify persons disabled or a statement from a medical practitioner licensed by the state of Ohio. One other form of identification, such as a driver's license or birth certificate also is required. Swim lessons start June 5 BUCYRUS The first session of swimming lessons for the summer will be starting at the Bucyrus YMCA the week of June 5.

Registration is now going on. All classes are limited to a first come, first serve basis with payment necessary to hold the place in class. The following classes will be offered: "Waterbabies" is a class for both parent and child, ages 6 months to 3 years. The program, stressing water safety, swimming skills and water enjoyment, is designed to teach parents how to work with their child in the water. There will be class Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:30 to 10 a.m.

This class also will be offered on Monday evenings at 6:30 during the first summer session. Those enrolled in this session are asked to bring appropriate swimwear on the first day. "Skipper" classes are designed for children 3 to years old. Four levels are taught as the children progress through the developmental skills emphasizing water adjustment, swimming skills, and water safety. The Skipper classes meet Tuesday and Thursday beginning at 6 p.m.

for weeks; and Monday through Friday beginning at 10 a.m. for 2 weeks. Unlike other programs, including those in the public schools, Plain Talk gives the responsibility of teen-pregnancy prevention to adults first. The program also begins with the assumption that teens in a community are sexually active. "We (adults) provide veiJittle guidance in how to be responsible," said Caren Adams," teen-pregnancy prevention coordinator with the Seattle-King County Health Department, about most programs aimed at curbing teen pregnancy.

"What we usually say to teens is, 'We don't want you to have But then we whisper earlier this year. Another session begins later this month. Cappello leads the group of 15, giving weekly sex-education lessons about contraception, AIDS, and how drugs and alcohol can affect decision-making. A friendly, funny 40-year-old, Cappello then introduces participants to Patty Plaintalk, a full-figured, 30-something mother with a pouty mouth who likes to style her hair in a flip. Patty is a comic-strip character, a struggling single parent with four children.

She knows her kids have hit puberty and that she'll have to talk about sex, but she's unsure how. In one episode, Patty, already worried about a sick dog and paying an electricity bill is confronted by her daughter Polly, who wants to know what a herpes sore looks like. In another episode, her daughter asks her to define "fallopian tube." In a third, Patty takes control. Polly's boyfriend has told Polly condoms are too small to use. So Patty, unfazed, fits a condom over her head.

participating in a national program called Plain Talk. The program teaches adults sex-education and communication skills. Through a series of worksheets depicting a boy and a girl going on a first date, it coaxes adults into remembering the awkward and poignant details of puberty. It also teaches parents how to use a comic strip to comfortably bring up the subject of sex to their kids. "We know if parents throw up their hands and can't even get their kids to clean the closet, that we can't expect that they're at home talking to their kids about condoms," said Dominic Cappello, the White Center program's health educator.

Officials want these adults, an ethnically mixed group of residents in public and private housing, to hold at-home discussions for their neighbors. The program is funded for four years with $1 million from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Baltimore. WHITE CENTER, Wash. Diana Rivera was in the kitchen, her eyes stinging from the onions she was chopping.

Carmen, 15, came out from her bedroom and sat at the kitchen table. Carmen was thinking about oral sex, thinking it was gross. She couldn't imagine people doing it, but she was curious. So, giggling uncomfortably, Carmen asked Mom. And Mom nearly sliced off her finger.

"I was completely caught off guard. I didn't know what to say," says Rivera, 36, laughing at the memory. After taking a deep breath, Rivera faced Carmen and did something most parents of teen-agers don't do: She talked openly about sex. In White Center, where teens like their peers elsewhere are having sex, having babies and not using condoms, Rivera is among a group of adults gathering information and losing their inhibitions, cussed sex with their parents, another study indicated. Not having updated information or worrying about what words to use is what causes parents to be reluctant to talk about sex, said Pepper Schwartz, a professor of sociology at the University of Washington.

Parents today, like generations of parents before them, get embarrassed or won't acknowledge that, their kids are having sexual feelings, she said. Diana Rivera, who grew up in White Center, remembers when parents would send teen mothers to out-of-state relatives or put 'them in separate schools. Rivera married at .16, had a baby and dropped out of school Carmen, a freshman at Evergreen High in Burien, heard about girls getting pregnant when she was in junior high. So Rivera joined other parents, non-parents and staff members in the first local Plain Talk group about contraceptives, and (teens) get a weak message about what they should do." According to a White Center survey last year, a majority of 17 to 19 year olds have had sex. Only slightly more than half of the teens used birth control every time.

Fourteen percent hardly ever or never used birth control And although local parents said they felt relieved or happy when 2. By Mike Maza Dallas Morning News lushly illustrated with woodcuts, fine art reproductions and stills from the likes of Hitchcock's "Spellbqund" and Cocteau's "La Belle et la Bete." It includes a brief history of dream theory and a bit on the mechanics of sleep. But the main attractions are the discussions of dream themes and case studies of specific dreams and their alleged meanings. The personal poetry of dreaming comes through with a charm that only the most dedicated debunkers will resist. "Speaking of Marriage: Irreverent Thoughts on Matrimony," edited by Tina and Robert Reed (Perigee paperback, $10) i Here's just the thing for anniversary season, despite an overabundance of Erma Bombeck quotes.

The delights include Ogden Nash's four-line marriage manual: "To keep your marriage brimming With love in the marriage cup, Whenever you're wrong, admit itWhenever you're right, shut up." And personal testimonials from Henny Youngman, Richard. Pryor is really tough because you have to deal with feelings and Mae West and other wits. And therapeutic in-arguables such as this from Eric Berne: "No man is a hero to his wife's psychiatrist." tivities for Turning Time to Spare Into Time to Share," by Steve and Ruth Bennett (Penguin paperback, The Bennetts had a hit with "365 TV Free Activities You Can Do With Your Child." This new book recycles old favorites like "I Spy" and invents variations on category games (lists to be scrutinized for what doesn't belong, for example, or to be compiled of vehicles seen in traffic), plus role-playing, memory and counting activities. Some are simple time killers, some are imagination stimulators, and many require parental participation. A second book by the-' same duo, "Kitchen Time," compiles activities suitable for the dinner-preparation hour.

"The Complete Video Hook-Up and Help Guide," by Dan Hale (Video One Publications, This collection of tips and tools includes hookup instructions a bonehead could follow, descriptions of high-end recording, editing and special-effects equipment, a chapter on the new digital satellite systems, how-to instructions for using accessories and equipment (one chapter is titled "Interviewing for and consumer tidbits, such as how to inspect a rental tape for VCR-killing potential. The book has an amateurish, disorganized feel that's endearing if occasionally irritating. Technophiles will sneer, but the video-befuddled will appreciate Mr. Hale's basic approach. "Parkers' Complete Book of Dreams," by Julia and Derek Parker (Dorling Kindersley hardcover, More art than science, this entertaining coffee table piece is "A Penny.Saved: Teaching Your Children the Values and Life Skills They Will Need to Live in the Real World," by Neale Godfrey with Tad Richards (Simon Schuster hardcover, Teens who can follow Godfrey's prescriptions for budgeting or her "Five Commandments" for credit cards such as "Thou shalt not charge pizza (or any other perishables)" will be far better money managers than most American parents.

Not to mention their elected representatives. But the book does have real-world appeal particularly in the way it views money sense as welded into a complex system. "Money is about values, about relationships, about choices, about self-esteem," the authors say. 'Tor better or worse, money is the connective tissue that holds society together." They suggest concepts, teaching tools, educational games and a rising tide of responsibility appropriate for three age levels: preschoolers, elementary school-age kids and teens. "Waiting Games: 202 Instant Ac St Joseph's Marriage ft Evangelical Ministry The "YMCA Progressive Swimming Program" is for the child 6 years old and older.

These classes start at the Polliwog level which is an introduction to the pool and beginning swimming and safety skills and progress through the intermediate levels where new strokes are learned as endurance and coordination improve. Advanced skills and lifesav-ing skills are the emphasis in the most advanced levels of the Progressive program. For more information, contact the YMCA at Shop Now tor Your Gifts Specialties Open Daily 124 Closed Tues. Dealers Wanted 102 Harding Way West 462-1219 Beautitul Non-denominational weddings. Performed anywhere in Ohio, your place or mine Call Elder Pantcleimon (419) 522-9273 HYPNOSIS CLINICS sponsored by the American Lung Association AIR CONDITIONING SPRING SPECIAL Wednesday June 7 at Mansfield General Hospital School of Nursing oo 0(32 cam? No enrollment or medical fees.

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