Muscle dysmorphia

About: Muscle dysmorphia is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 337 publications have been published within this topic receiving 12113 citations.

The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession

Abstract: Combining case studies with scientific research, this book reveals a threat that is as serious as the beauty myth for women or anorexia nervosa for girls. Growing numbers of young men are taking the quest for perfect muscles, skin and hair too far, crossing the line from normal interest to abnormal obsession. The symptoms of this body obsession, excessive workouts, steroid abuse, eating disorders, and body and muscle dysmorphic disorder lead to problems with sex and intimacy, relationships and work. This book shows what men really think and feel about their bodies, so no-one need suffer alone.

Biceps and Body Image: The Relationship Between Muscularity and Self-Esteem, Depression, and Eating Disorder Symptoms.

Abstract: The present study examined body image and associated psychological traits in 154 college men. The comprehensive battery of measures included a novel computerized test of body image perception, the Somatomorphic Matrix, in which subjects could navigate through a range of body images, spanning a wide range of body fat and muscularity, to answer various questions posed by the computer. Subjects also completed paper-and-pencil instruments assessing depression, characteristics of eating disorders, self-esteem, and use of performance-enhancing substances. Findings suggest that contemporary American men display substantial body dissatisfaction and that this dissatisfaction is closely associated with depression, measures of eating pathology, use of performance-enhancing substances, and low self-esteem. Muscle belittlement, believing that one is less muscular than he is, presented as an important construct in the body dissatisfaction of men.