“In order to seek treatment for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) you must hold two contradictory thoughts simultaneously: first, that you are hideously ugly; second, that your own perception of that ugliness does not reflect an external reality. Ugly Me: My Life with Body Dysmorphia is an intelligent examination of this mental health disorder, which affects one in 50 people in the UK. The programme follows 29-year-old Liane, who has decided to seek treatment for her BDD because it is making normal life impossible: she won’t get a haircut (because she doesn’t want to be confronted with her slightly off-centre hairline) or have sex with her highly empathetic boyfriend Mitch. In her self-portrait, drawn on the request of psychiatrist David Veale, she looks like Winnie the Witch. Shot over the course of a year, this close-quarters documentary is a stout rebuke to anyone who mistakes BDD for excessive vanity or narcissism.” – Harriet Fitch Little, Financial Times
Director: Marina Parker; BBC