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Being preoccupied with muscle development may involve a disturbance in body image similar to anorexia.
Bigorexia (muscular dysmorphia) is now affecting hundreds of thousands of men.
Other people refer to the condition as “reverseanorexia,” and now more commonly “bigorexia.”
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The causes are not known and researchers conceptualize it in different ways.
Most men with bigorexia are weightlifters, but this does not mean that most weightlifters are bigorexic.
Conservative estimates put bigorexia as affecting hundreds of thousands of men.
Mirror Checking
One study described bigorexic men checking themselves out up to 12 times a day.
This compares to roughly three times a day with other weightlifters.
Diet
Very strict diets are often involved in this syndrome.
It has been known formen to develop eating disorderssuch as bulimia.
Measuring Up
Bigorexic men constantly compare their own physique with that of other men.
Invariably their perceptions are incorrect.
Even when observing men of equal physique they will judge themselves as smaller.
Drugs
The use of anabolic steroids is common amongst bigorexics.
Many will hide away for days at a time because of embarrassment about their body shape.
Typically, men with bigorexia have low self-esteem.
Many report having been teased at school about their physique leading to a focus on “making good.”
Where men have come forward a combination of educational and psychotherapeutic techniques has begun to show promising results.
Cognitive-behavioral techniques place an emphasis on identifying and changing patterns of thinking toward more realistic and achievable goals.
Treatment of co-morbid mood and anxiety disorders are important.
Future treatment packages may well be informed by such approaches but more systematic studies are now required.
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