Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental illness currently classified as part of the “Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders” (OCRD) chapter in both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) and in the ICD-11. This is not the case for illness anxiety disorder/hypochondriasis (IAD/HC), as IAD is classified in the chapter “Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders” in DSM-5, and in ICD-11, under the name HC, it is classified along with BDD in the OCRD chapter.

In this article, we aim to describe a case of comorbid BDD and IAD/HC in a young adult Portuguese man. We then aim to review these diagnoses in light of their current classification in DSM-5 and ICD-11, with a particular emphasis in the divergent classification of IAD/HC, namely, the pertinence of its inclusion in the OCRD.