Donate to Bring Awareness to Body Dysmorphia

Hello! My name is Ben McLaughlin, and I am a filmmaker based in Philadelphia, currently working on a PSA to help bring awareness to the issue of Body Dysmorphia, also known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder. I have struggled with body dysmorphia for about five years, and while I’ve made tremendous progress in my own journey, I desire to make a difference within the community. As a young film director, I believe I can be most effective through the visual arts.

Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health condition in which you can't stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance — a flaw that appears minor or can't be seen by others.

BDD can sometimes prevent you from social interactions and can affect your everyday life and function. That's why I feel it's so important to bring awareness to this condition.

I developed this with my best friend, John, who is starring in the film. John is the person who inspired me to address my body dysmorphia after bravely vocalizing his own disorder. His strength led me to reflect on the cloud hanging over me, and it allowed us to lean on each other through a difficult journey.

The campaign of my PSA is “Strength in Numbers.” By visualizing people’s unique experiences living with body dysmorphia, I believe we can expand the public’s empathy and awareness.

Why am I fundraising?

I am working with an amazing group of filmmakers to create a 2-3 minute video PSA that draws from my own experience with body dysmorphia and will show what it's like to experience BDD in your daily life. We are fundraising for the production of the PSA, which will be filming in mid-May. Donations will be put towards finding locations, paying cast and crew, and providing healthy food while on set.

But since my goal is to ultimately help those who have BDD find treatment and support for the condition, I believe it's essential to give back to the community. So, a portion of every donation will be donated to the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation, the only charity dedicated solely to BDD in the world! They aim to advance education and understanding of BDD and support research into BDD and its treatments. While they are based in the UK, their reach is international. By doing this, I hope that we can make a genuine difference for people suffering from this disorder.

I hope you can join our goal to help bring awareness to Body Dysmorphia through this PSA and help those with BDD find support and treatment by supporting the BDD Foundation!

The PSA

The more extended PSA will stem from the concept of the video you can watch above. My goal with this campaign was to show the diversity of who BDD affects across many different body shapes and sizes, ethnicities, genders and walks of life. This format allows us to do a series of PSAs that focus on one person and their specific story and experience.

The current PSA we are fundraising for will focus on John, who inspired this concept. It will follow him as he struggles with muscle dysmorphia, a type of body dysmorphia that isn't commonly known about. It will show his mindset surrounding this issue and how he copes with the condition in his daily life through obsessively working out, using excessive protein supplements, and constantly finding your appearance when going out in the world.

Meet the Team

Ben McLaughlin, Director

Ben McLaughlin is a filmmaker who focuses on quiet, raw stories with the intention on bringing light to unique human experiences. He is hoping to have an impact on communities with films that grow a greater sense of empathy.

Kayla Casey, Producer

Kayla is an independent producer based in Philadelphia with experience working on short-form content. She is currently producing anything from short films to music videos to commercials. In the past year, Kayla has been working with a group of filmmakers as part of a start-up boutique production company, Typo Film House, on various projects from pre-production to shooting. In her free time, she can be found working in the production department on many commercial and film sets in Philadelphia and New York.

Where will your money go?

80% of your donation will go towards production costs for the video PSA, while 20% of every donation will be personally donated directly to the BDD Foundation by myself and the rest of the production team. Once we reach our goal for the cost of production, the rest of the donations will be given entirely to the BDD Foundation!

Share Our Fundraiser

Donations are not the only way to help! The more people who hear about the project, the more likely we will reach our goal. We would be incredibly appreciative if you took a few moments to share this fundraiser with your networks.

Thank you in advance for your contribution. You have no idea how much it means to us to have your support!