Little is known about mental images (cognitive representations with sensory qualities) in body integrity identity disorder (BIID). This study aimed to determine whether individuals with BIID experience mental images and, if so, whether they differ to those experienced by individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and healthy controls. A semi-structured interview on mental images and their qualities was delivered to a sample of 22 individuals with BIID and 19 with BDD, and 22 healthy controls. Both the BIID (n = 15, 68.2%) and BDD (n = 14, 73.7%) groups reported significantly more mental images than healthy controls (n = 3, 13.6%), but no differences between the two clinical groups were found. While mental images in BDD were focused on ‘flawed’ body parts, images in BIID involved the desired handicap. Mental images in BIID were experienced as less distressing and more sexually arousing compared to BDD. No further differences were found between the groups (e.g., regarding sensory multimodality, dominance of a specific body part). Although the two groups reported a similar frequency of mental images, images appear to serve different functions across conditions. Clinically, it may be necessary to target the positive mental images in BIID to improve treatment outcome.

中文翻译：

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身体完整性认同障碍 (BIID) 和身体变形障碍 (BDD) 中的心理意象：一项探索性研究

关于身体完整性身份障碍 (BIID) 中的心理图像（具有感官品质的认知表征）知之甚少。本研究旨在确定患有 BIID 的个体是否经历过心理意象，如果有，它们是否与身体畸形障碍 (BDD) 和健康对照个体所经历的不同。对 22 名 BIID、19 名 BDD 和 22 名健康对照组的样本进行了关于心理图像及其质量的半结构化访谈。BIID (n= 15, 68.2%) 和 BDD (n= 14, 73.7%) 组报告的心理图像明显多于健康对照组 (n= 3, 13.6%），但没有发现两个临床组之间的差异。虽然 BDD 中的心理图像专注于“有缺陷的”身体部位，但 BIID 中的图像涉及所需的障碍。与 BDD 相比，在 BIID 中的心理意象被体验为更少的痛苦和更多的性唤起。两组之间没有发现进一步的差异（例如，关于感觉多模态、特定身体部位的优势）。尽管两组报告的心理图像频率相似，但图像似乎在不同条件下具有不同的功能。在临床上，可能需要针对 BIID 中的积极心理意象来改善治疗效果。