More Male Athletes Getting Body Image Disorders

I read an in-depth interview with Lou once.
He had quite a few body image issues.
And was jealous of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I certainly believe men can be as sensitive looks wise as women; I've met men who were; but I think the female norm is still more sensitive than the male norm

Body beautiful used to be the domain of women, but as women move into management positions in the workplace, an interesting 'balancing of the playing fields' appears to be taking place. As men lose their previously undisputed status in the worksplace, more are starting to compete to have manly bodies. And along with this comes the metra sexual male with new ranges of men's fragrances and skin care products and male magazines with increasingly more emphasis on body beautiful.

Yes, this is new disorder, opposite to bulimia.
You want to gain more and more muscles and it does not matter that you already look good, you want to gain more and more.

Next step are steroids, sintol and finally you can die:(

Many bodybuilders have died from this mania.

The difficult part about diagnosing psychiatric disorders is that characteristics of disorders can exist without it being pathological. The article talks about eating disorders but reading the DSM (Bible of Psychiatric Diagnoses) starving to meet a weight class is pathological but not strictly defined as an eating disorder. Moving further over to DSM-IV defines Body Dysmorphic Disorder this way:

Diagnostic criteria for 300.7 Body Dysmorphic Disorder

A. Preoccupation with an imagined defect in appearance. If a slight physical anomaly is present, the person's concern is markedly excessive.

B. The preoccupation causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

C. The preoccupation is not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g., dissatisfaction with body shape and size in Anorexia Nervosa).

Is it really an imagined defect for a competitive body builder to be concerned about small changes in body fat percentage? No.

Is it really an imagined defect for a 40 year old guy to set out to shave his body fat down to the point he can see the six-pack he's worked so hard on? No.

Is it an imagined defect to want to bulk up and have a "beach body"? Absolutely not.

B. and C. are the important criteria, not the pre-occupation. Vanity is not a psychiatric disorder in and of itself.

What? They "may often need the help of a nutritionist or even a psychologist or psychiatrist"?
Always this psycho trash! When millions look for help from psychologists or psychiatrists, it cannot be bad, right?
Well, maybe it is not always that easy. I would recommend to work on moral values, including discipline, instead. Even the old greeks said: "Nothing too much".
Not too much food, not too much hunger, not too much muscles...
Instead of running to a psychologist or psychiatrist immediately, first try to become a better charakter.

I may have Body Dysmorphic Disorder, cause I have this delusion that I'm really fit :-)

One of my husband's friends is very into his appearance. He complains if he feels "fat" and he often purges after he eats too much or he'll chew up his food and then spit it out to avoid gaining weight by eating it. All his buddies tease him for it, but I think lots of men are feeling the pressure to be fit and lean (and yet be able to shovel Monster Burgers and fries in their gullets like there's no tomorrow). So yeah, I guess guys are not immune to societal images.

I'm just working to get bigger. I will never be big enough. I have a hard time gaining weight eating healthy.

I feel that this post is very true and representative of part of the male population. Women always want to look good but so do men, which can cause disorders.