By Sam Bennison

To Your Health

Muscle dysmorphia: a silent crisis

Dec 27, 2023 | 1:05 PM

PRINCE GEORGE—Go onto social media and you’ll find fad diets and exercises through #fitness or #gym but underlying it is young teen boys who are developing body image issues wanting to look like their favourite superhero.

“Muscle dysmorphic disorder is a mental health condition where someone has an intense preoccupation with maybe perceived flaws or the way their body looks,” explains Rilla Lodge, Registered Dietitian and Counsellor, Regional Eating Disorders Clinic. “Specifically with bigorexia or muscle dysmorphia disorder someone is obsessed with the idea that their body isn’t big enough or needs more muscle.

While the health concerns might not be noticable as the person seems to be in peak fitness symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and OCD can develop. People with muscle dysmorphia can also get physical injuries from their exercise or develop health complications down the road.

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“The challenging thing about identifying something like muscle dysmorphic disorder is that people are often living with this in secrecy. It’s not often obvious to those outside looking in to see that someone’s struggling,” says Lodge. “For others, it might just look like someone is leading a really healthy lifestyle when in reality they’re struggling internally with this obsession. And so, if you’re noticing that someone’s healthy lifestyle is starting to maybe interfere with their with their life or you’re feeling like it’s becoming an obsession, ask, reach out, offer support and encourage someone to seek help”

Muscle Dysmorphic disorder is hard to see from the outside but people who live with it might have a preoccupation with going to the gym, to the point that their work is affected or they miss out on life events. They can also have a preoccupation with food and dieting. If you or someone you know is experiencing muscle dysmorphia reach out to a healthcare provider.

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reddit: u/Sam_CKPG

Email: sam.bennison@pattisonmedia.com