Bulging biceps no cure for poor body image
Sweet Jesus. Why can’t we just have a disease called “I’m Think I’m Ugly”?
But if they’re exercising and working out, how is that unhealthy? It’s not like anorexia, where you could die of starvation.
Just like any form of BDD it’s unhealthy because of the lengths to which people will go to try and “perfect” their body. In this case I’d guess that some men will keep pushing their exercise until they start injuring themselves. Torn muscles, shredded joint tissue, that sort of stuff. Or they’ll start popping anabolic steriods.
"In addition to thinking that their muscles are not big enough, men suffering from MD are also worried about gaining fat and are particularly concerned about the shape and look of their buttocks, hips, thighs and legs. "
So they’re women? 
Some fellows in the weightlifting/flex crowd have some mental issues. I never would have guessed it.
My boss’ husband is a professional bodybuilder. I can get specific answers if anybody wants them.
Esprix
Heh. This reminds of that MTV show “True Life: I’m Getting Plastic Surgery,” where they profiled some weightlifter dude who was convinced that he was the best looking guy on earth (“I’m the total package!” he said repeatedly), except for his supposedly skinny legs, which he was obsessed with. He thought everyone was staring at them, and they were keeping him from looking his “best.” So he got calf implants–basically a pack of silicone inserted right behind his knees. :eek:
Sports Illustrated did a story a few years ago examining a rash of murders, assaults, and rapes committed by bodybuilders. One of the things they discussed was the body image issue. It was unbelievable how obsessed some of these guys were about their bodies. They would say the most telling things without (it appeared) understanding how much their comments reflected their poor self-esteem. I remember one guy who finally stepped back from the scene said that he believed most competitive bodybuilders were driven by low self-esteem and that many of them had been unpopular children. He said something like “they build a huge shell with nothing inside of it.”
The article also said that the body image issues and competitive nature in the field led bodybuilders to use anabolic steroids and mix other drugs in order to bulk up. Unfortunately, they didn’t really understand what they were doing to their bodies and many people speculated that the drug cocktails were partially to blame for the violence.
Frightening article.
So men have low self-esteem too. This is making headlines?
I’d settle for some pictures! 
Sam Fussell, after graduating from Oxford, returned to America and took up weightlifting to, as he put it, “build a suit of armor” to cover up his sense of personal weakness. He became a competitive bodybuilder, then wrote a book about his experiences called Muscle. In his book, Fussell describes his struggles with body image and trying to achieve an ever elusive look. It’s a good read.
Another book worth reading that deals with male body dysmorphia is The Adonis Complex, by Harrison G. Pope.
I used to know a guy whose goal was to have the “ideal” bodily proportions used by ancient Greek artists when they sculpted heroic figures. He measured all the pertinent areas daily. I don’t know if he ever achieved his dream.
Apparently y’all have never seen this guy. Be sure to enjoy the recent pictures.
If that’s not evidence of a mental health problem, I don’t know what is.
I remember watching that, saying “Wow, he seems like a complete asshole.” I remember how he was so proud of finally being perfect, and his friends just kind of shrugged it off, saying “I would have just done the work for it.”
How does that guy PEE?
Yeah, but you just know he’s got chicken legs…
Hear me now and believe me later…
But seriously…
What if it is a mental problem? Why start a pit thread about it?
Would you start a pit thread about anorexia?
Why the anger about it?
It’s not anger, kevja. It’s exasperation.
And if you don’t get exasperated every now and then, you wind up with a mental problem.
In highschool, I knew this guy named Bum. He was a cheerleader, and if you ever met him, the LAST thing you would think about doing is making fun of that fact. He was only about five foot two, but this guy could bench press over 300 lbs. Each of his pectoral muscles was at LEAST five inches thick, and he could easily crush a person’s head with his bicepts like a giant nut-cracker. One day, we were hanging out at my friend Ryan’s place, and discussed inviting some girls over to go swimming. Bum suddenly got all nervous and started to leave. When we asked him why, he kept repeating “Dude! I don’t want chicks seeing my fat gut. I’ve got a kegger, dude!”
Some people, you just can’t reason with.
Oh, I see.
I looked up the word exasperate, just to help me understand.
- to irritate or provoke to a high degree; annoy extremely.