![\"laundry\"](\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/5ef30_laundry.gif\")
They change their clothes frequently. They shower repeatedly, sometimes using a whole bar of soap in one go. Some even swallow perfume.<\/p>They change their clothes frequently. They shower repeatedly, sometimes using a whole bar of soap in one go. Some even swallow perfume.<\/p>
They think they smell bad, but they don’t.<\/p>
Olfactory reference syndrome is a rare psychiatric disorder, but it can lead to isolation, depression, and suicide. It’s also a little-noticed, little-studied syndrome. But now a study<\/a> to appear in Depression and Anxiety<\/em> has looked at twenty sufferers and reviewed current literature on the disorder to determine its general characteristics.<\/p> Psychiatrists have known about the disorder’s symptoms for over a century, but treatment and diagnosis are difficult, in part because the syndrome doesn’t currently have its own classification<\/a> in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders <\/em>(DSM)–the handbook of mental health professionals. The manual combines the syndrome with other disorders, such as social phobia, delusional disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The new study gives recommendations for updating the next version of the manual, and suggests adding this disorder to an appendix of conditions that need further research.<\/p> <\/span>As reported<\/a> by HealthDay News, <\/em>nineteen of the study’s twenty volunteers exhibited at least one compulsive behavior, like repeated self-sniffing or showering. On average, they spent eight hours a day thinking about their smell. Fearing social interactions, forty percent had been housebound for over a week.<\/p> Many patients thought the smell came from their mouth, but they were also concerned with their armpits, genitalia, anus, feet, and skin, according to a MedPage Today article<\/a>.<\/p> Katharine Phillips, a coauthor of the study and a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, presented these and other findings on Tuesday at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting<\/a><\/span>. She told<\/a> Reuters Health:<\/p> “I think it’s a very secret and hidden disorder, because these patients tend to be very ashamed of themselves…. I have been so struck by the intense suffering that the patients experience.”<\/span><\/p> Related content: Image: flickr \/ mysza831<\/a><\/em><\/p> They change their clothes frequently. They shower repeatedly, sometimes using a whole bar of soap in one go. Some even swallow perfume.They think they smell bad, but they don’t.Olfactory reference syndrome is a rare psychiatric disorder, but it can lead … Continue reading
Discoblog: Bad Breath? Body Odor? Don’t Bother Applying to China’s Space Program<\/a>
Discoblog: Doctor, Is My Diabetes Medicine Supposed to Smell Like Gym Socks?<\/a>
DISCOVER: Finding the Right Word Odo<\/a>r<\/a><\/span>
DISCOVER: The Brain: The First Yardstick for Measuring Smells<\/span><\/a><\/p><\/a>
<\/a><\/p>
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"