Have you ever heard of a muscular guy saying no iam not big enough I need more muscle or a some woman as thin as a ramp model and still saying I need to loose a little more ? Iam sure you must have.

Weightlifting/bodybuilding is one of the most seeked out way of fitness nowdays.

We have people who just go to the gym for one week and start wearing tight fitted clothes and we also have on the other hand bunch of people who must be like big muscular guys but you will hardly see them in tight fitting clothes. There are 2 main reasons for this

1 – their body frame and muscle size is too big that they don’t feel comfortable in tight clothes it can never be a perfect fit coz of the abnormal body size. No matter how much custom tailor fit clothes you wear they wont ever be a perfect fit. So being in loose baggy clothes is there way of comfort ( trust me I have experienced this myself )

2 – But apart from this there is also an secondary underlying cause in some of the bodybuilder for wearing loose baggy clothes iam not saying all but a few in numbers is that they feel their muscle size is small and they see it as a flaw in them so in order to hide it they often wear loose baggy clothes.

Many of you reading the second reason right now will be like really ?? is that even true ?

Cardiovascualr exercises like jogging, cycling can improve the conditions of heart and lungs but to be muscular, strong and having a good physique one has to lift iron or in simple words do weight lifting. While weight lifting is helpful for people but a small population of this weigh lifting people take their weightlifting routine too seriously and often they develop behaviors which harm them mentally more than doing any good.

There is an mental issue associated with bodybuilding which is called muscle dysmorphia. Just like we have Anorexia Nervosa an eating disorder where a person is obsessed with being thin and scared of gaining weight. Muscle dysmorphia is an disorder where person becomes obsessed with being muscular and alters their eating habits to gain more muscle. People who suffer anorexia think they are too big on the other hand bodybuilders suffering from muscle dysmorphia think they are too small. Muscle dysmorphia is like reverse anorexia.

With that being said Iam are not pointing it out to every dedicated bodybuilder out there. There is a difference between both. One can be dedicated bodybuilder who goes to gym six days a week has a good physique and still not suffer from muscle dysmorphia.

People suffering from muscle dysmorphia are constantly preoccupied and obsessed the way they look and never are satisfied with their muscular structure. People with muscle dysmorphia are so engulfed with their looks that they start avoiding social interactions and gatherings coz they feel they are not good enough for the world to see them. And its not just about being in the gym all the time such people also develop a eating disorder where they are constantly eating large meals to gain muscle size. They avoid fats and are always after protein in their meals. They feel guilty if they do a cheat meal. These disorders often have a huge impact on a person’s life mentally and physically. People who suffer from anorexia often also suffer from depression and they tend to often isolate themselves from friends, family and social activities.

A healthy and sound weight lifting routine involves working all muscles in a planned systematic manner with a proper schedule to follow and it also involves taking rest when your muscles are over worked or too sore.

Where as people suffering from muscle dysmorphia workout everyday they push themselves beyond fatigue everytime. there is no rest even if one is injured or sore and tired from the last workout session.

Causes of muscle dysmorphia

People with muscle dysmorphia has no set goal or target of achieving a physique they just want to get bigger and bigger every time. Muscle dysmorphia majorly affects men because of the culture and the image we have about men the society favours women who are thin and men who are strong and powerful.

Apart from the cultural image of men and women in our society there are many more reasons and causes of muscle dysmorphia in men and women in the gym. There is media influence, life as a child etc. And just read below to see how all these factors make one from a regular gym goer to a bodybuilding freak with mental issues.

1 – Media Influence

Body image issues can begin even at childhood and this statement implies to both boys and girls. All boys toys action figures, super hero movies show us men with big muscles and movies like cindrella, snow white shows slim and skinny women. And that’s what kids look upto and idiolize as the perfect body type they want to have.

When we jump to the adult world from the kids world here also media has a big influence over what we see perfect and what we see as ugly. Nowdays we are glued on social media like Instagram, facebook etc on a dialy basis and a huge time of ours is spent on social media. All over the Instagram we see men with muscular ripped body, often social media portrays these men surrounded by women, as being powerful, being successful having shit loads of money to spur. What social media is doing here is fueling your mind with image of what is perfect for the society but never guiding on a good balanced diet or coping with mental issues associated with all of it.

Social media can start fueling the body image issues from adolescents in human. And also social media somehow pressurises the men in society to look muscular. If you search “ male models “ on Instagram you will be bombarded with images of muscular v shaped ripped body men. And this at times causes body image issues with people who do not fit the same criteria or are over weight or too skinny. And this is one of the major cause of muscle dysmorphia in men nowdays.

2 – Cultural Society Influence

Men who suffer from muscle dysmorphia are often aware of there underlying condition but they never seek help treatment or talk to anyone about it as many are not aware that this is an underlying mental illness which can add to a lot of other mental disorders. And also because men are supposed to be strong and powerful so they go to gym and under the pressure and seeing others who lift heavy or are bulked up they often fall prey to the illness. And once they have this illness as mental issue are seen as taboo in our society. And its women in society who is supposed to have issues not men as a result men often stay quiet about their problems and this makes the problem getting gradually bigger and affecting them more and more.

3 – Steroid Use

Steroids are powerful drugs that don’t have an effect on u just physically but mentally as well. Steroids are the fastest and shortest way of being an eye candy guy in today’s world. Earlier only bodybuilding competitive athletes took steoirds but nowdays so many non athletes from every walk of life are using growth hormones and steroids to be big. Steroids can cause a spike in self esteem in a short notice as person becomes more muscular and its even a shorter way of falling prey to muscle dysmorphia as steroids cause a number of hormonal changes in one’s body which changes how a person looks physically and thinks mentally.

4 – Other Causes

Not every bodybuilding addiction streams out of an already underlying mental issues. Some people get addicted to bodybuilding for a lot of different reason. A study in Psychology of Sport and Exercise found that children who were bullied on a regular basis in their childhood were the ones who took more serious path on weightlifting later in their life. As children they were unable to defend themselves against taunting so they resolved to get stronger through weights, and found it kinda helps them to deal with their traumas. Similarly, another study in the journal Comprehensive Psychiatry found that 13 percent of female weightlifters were raped when they were teenagers or young adults. Again, the urge to bulk up seems to be linked to a prior feeling of powerlessness and a need for control.

Living With a Bodybuilding Addiction

As nearing to the end of this article you must be thinking okay so I lift weights and I don’t have any of this mental issue. But if you read so far reading further 2 mins of it wont do you any harm. Well the point here is many of us suffer from body image issues and most of us are never even aware of our underlying condition. Or you must think okay its not affecting me so much a little bit of muscle dysmorphia is good for motivation. An underlying bodybuilding addiction can have some serious adverse affects on your life, and if left untreated, it could be one of the major issues for driving a person insanely into depression by affecting the ability to maintain social relationship with friends and family, or focus on career or other activities apart from lifting weights and eating food.

Muscle dysmorphia is extreme because in it one is continuously overworking the body and is obsessed with physical appearance. And at certain point during that mental disorder men start undervaluing themselves and it affects their mental health. And then the person is emotionally and mentally unstable. Such bodybuilders often have outburst of rage and anger as they don’t have control over their behaviors.

It’s not a condition that will subside by itself without seeking help or treatment it will only et worse over the time.

Treatment Options

The kind of treatment for an issue like this is different for every individual as each and every person has their own reasons as to why they fell prey to such a thing in the first place. If you are bulking up to help forget some traumatic episode in your life there is a different treatment for that. But if you are someone who suffers from ocd ( obsessive compulsive disorder ) there are other ways to treat it. Its not one treatment for all when it comes to mental health.

Muscle dysmorphia is often treated with a combination of talk therapy and medications.You will have to find ways to kill the urge to workout everytime and the medications will help u subdue that urge. One can recover from a bodybuilding addiction. With help, life can return to normal once more.

A Self-Test

If you can answer “yes” to questions like this, you might have an addiction to bodybuilding:

1. Do you work out even when you’re injured?
2. Do you spend more than an hour each day lifting weights?
3. Do you lift weights more than once per day?
4. Do you think about lifting weights, or about your muscle size, for the majority of the day?
5. Has your need to bulk up interfered with your ability to make friends or hold down a job?
6. Are you unhappy when you can’t lift weights?
7. Are you convinced that you’re small, even though others say you’re not?
8. Do you find yourself looking in the mirror multiple times each day, measuring your muscles?
9. Do you try to cover up your small muscles?
10. Do you compare your body to those you see in magazines, convinced that you’re too small?

If after taking the test you feel you have muscle dysmorphia or bodybuilding addiction. There is no harm in seeking out help for the same. The sooner you seek help the better and sooner your recovery of coming out of this.