Muscle dysmorphia, otherwise known as bigorexia, is categorized as a body dysmorphic disorder. This type of disorder can be found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual under the section of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. Muscle dysmorphia is specifically described in the diagnostic criteria for body dysmorphia. In the DSM-5, it is described as being almost exclusively occurring in males and it can be defined as the fixation on one’s insufficient muscular build and/or the idea that one’s body is too small (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, pg.243). The unfortunate part of this disorder is that gets little attention, mainly because women make up a higher number of body dysmorphia victims and muscle dysmorphia primarily effects
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Excessive exercising is one of the most common activities that affects everyday function. Such distortions in function can include the thought process of "If I do not work out one day, my entire routine has been ruined”, or catastrophizing "If I do not work out one day, I will turn into a ball of fat" or the necessity to workout constantly "I must work out every day to be worthwhile" and personalization "I know that guy over there is talking about how puny I am" (Grieve et al., 2009, pg. 310). Some men become so preoccupied with muscle development that it can result in the loss of a job, missed social events and injury because of the intensity and frequency of fitness (Mosley, 2009, pg. 193). In some cases, men will even avoid activities such as going to the beach, a swimming pool or a locker room because they are fixated on their “lack” of a muscular appearance (Kanayama & Pope Jr., 2011, pg. 96). The body builder interviewee discussed earlier validates these restrictions on normal life. He exemplified the fact that body building is his life, he doesn’t go out to eat because he is always focused on his diet, he uses his leftover spending money on supplements and also doesn’t enjoy sex because he is constantly focused on the way he looks (Mosley, 2009, pg. 195). This type of behavior is a true sign of a disorder …show more content…
Due to the similarities in etiology, treatments used for eating disorders are expected to be effective in treating muscle dysmorphia clients (Grieve et al., 2009, pg. 311). Body dysmorphic treatment is also considered to be effective due to the correlation in the symptoms. Body dysmorphic victims have responded well to cognitive-behavioral therapies and anti-depressants therefore it is reasonable to assume that these tactics would be beneficial for muscle dysmorphic clients and potentially cease steroid use in severe cases (Kanayama & Pope Jr., 2011, pg. 97). Ideally, the more prevalent this disorder becomes treatment research may increase in growth as
Excessive exercising is one of the most common activities that affects everyday function. Such distortions in function can include the thought process of "If I do not work out one day, my entire routine has been ruined”, or catastrophizing "If I do not work out one day, I will turn into a ball of fat" or the necessity to workout constantly "I must work out every day to be worthwhile" and personalization "I know that guy over there is talking about how puny I am" (Grieve et al., 2009, pg. 310). Some men become so preoccupied with muscle development that it can result in the loss of a job, missed social events and injury because of the intensity and frequency of fitness (Mosley, 2009, pg. 193). In some cases, men will even avoid activities such as going to the beach, a swimming pool or a locker room because they are fixated on their “lack” of a muscular appearance (Kanayama & Pope Jr., 2011, pg. 96). The body builder interviewee discussed earlier validates these restrictions on normal life. He exemplified the fact that body building is his life, he doesn’t go out to eat because he is always focused on his diet, he uses his leftover spending money on supplements and also doesn’t enjoy sex because he is constantly focused on the way he looks (Mosley, 2009, pg. 195). This type of behavior is a true sign of a disorder …show more content…
Due to the similarities in etiology, treatments used for eating disorders are expected to be effective in treating muscle dysmorphia clients (Grieve et al., 2009, pg. 311). Body dysmorphic treatment is also considered to be effective due to the correlation in the symptoms. Body dysmorphic victims have responded well to cognitive-behavioral therapies and anti-depressants therefore it is reasonable to assume that these tactics would be beneficial for muscle dysmorphic clients and potentially cease steroid use in severe cases (Kanayama & Pope Jr., 2011, pg. 97). Ideally, the more prevalent this disorder becomes treatment research may increase in growth as