Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I'm running 21km to help raise awareness for BDD in September 2023. I lost two of my friends 5 years ago due to this disease and at the time knew nothing about it or how seriously it can affect people's lives.

There is very sadly a high suicide rate among people with BDD. Surveys of people with BDD attending a specialist clinic show about 25% have attempted suicide in the past. Another survey suggests that about 0.3% of people with BDD commit suicide each year. This often goes undiagnosed until an attempt at self harm is made.

Body dysmorphic disorder effects between 1.7 to 2.9% of the general population which in an area the size of America would be around 10 million people so worldwide this number would be much higher.

This condition bleeds into our everyday lives more than you'd think, it can be due to life altering surgery, a disability or mental health condition. All genders and ages are effected, those magazines telling you how you should look, those adverts telling you what to wear, the pressure of society on how you're valued as an individual.

I hope by giving to this charity and taking part in this run I can help initiate a conversation about BDD and make this condition more transparent to more people.

Thank you for reading my story and if you can't sponsor me there are no worries but I hope you take away some of this information and use it to help somebody who may have this condition even if it's signposting them to this charity ❤️

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