Delivery included to the United States

Letting Go of Perfect

Letting Go of Perfect A Gay Man's Guide to Healing from Body Dysmorphia

Paperback (21 Oct 2025)

  • $20.49
Pre-order

Includes delivery to the United States

Publisher's Synopsis

Body dysmorphia affects a significant number of gay men, driven by rigid beauty ideals and social expectations around masculinity. The pursuit of a 'perfect' body can quickly become all-consuming, leading to harmful patterns around food, fitness, and self-worth.

Daniel O'Shaughnessy understands this not just as a clinician but as someone who has lived it. Drawing on his experience with extreme dieting, compulsive exercise, and steroid use, he brings a rare honesty to a subject still too often shrouded in silence. His professional insight as a nutritionist and mindset coach is shaped by this lived reality, offering both empathy and expertise.

This book explores why body dysmorphia is so pervasive in the gay community, unpacks its psychological roots, and provides practical tools to help you challenge toxic patterns and begin to build a more respectful, sustainable relationship with your body.

Whether you're caught in cycles of comparison or simply exhausted by the pressure to look a certain way, this is a grounded guide to thinking differently, living more freely, and letting go of the need to be 'perfect.'

About the Publisher

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Jessica Kingsley Publishers is a wholly independent company, committed to publishing books that make a difference. The company was founded in 1987 by Jessica Kingsley and has grown since then to the point where we now publish over 200 books a year, which are available throughout the world. In 2004 we opened our US office, in Philadelphia. We publish books for professional and general readers in a range of subjects. We are well known for our long established lists on the autism spectrum, on social work, and on the arts therapies. More recently we have published extensively in the fields of mental health, counselling, palliative care, and practical theology.

Book information

ISBN: 9781805017981
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Imprint: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Pub date:
DEWEY: 306.4613
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: 272
Weight: -1g
Height: 216mm
Width: 138mm