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Thread: Bigorexia
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01-02-2018, 11:09 PM #1
Bigorexia
Bigorexia is a mental disorder where an individual wants to get huge when he's already big....iron brothers, do you believe this sickness exists or is it a myth? ...
read on: https://www.evolutionary.org/bigorexia/
BIGOREXIA-300x258.jpgEvolutionary.org - Official RXM Sponsor. Interested in sources or discussion of anabolics? visit our forums...over 100,000 members.
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01-02-2018, 11:55 PM #2
A lot of health care professionals laugh at bigorexia and argue it's not real but it's 100% real and just as much of as an epidemic as anorexia.
We have a specialist on eating disorders booked for the EVO podcast in the next couple of weeks. It'll be a really good episode. He's a certified specialist who works at the hospital.
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01-03-2018, 07:30 AM #3
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a lot of people have this, or the early stages. go to any meathead gym and you will notice this..
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01-03-2018, 02:59 PM #4
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I don't believe that OCD in a gym needs a separate listing in the DSM. It's just OCD.
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01-03-2018, 07:39 PM #5
I think it is unhealthy to obsess over anything. This is just another example of how that behavior can become dangerous.
I prefer to stay lean and add small amounts of muscle slowly. I feel that is much healthier than what it does to our organs when we add 20lbs to our frames in 12 weeks.
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01-03-2018, 11:06 PM #6
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Here's a checklist of characteristics of "bigorexia" (or muscle dysmorphia, sometimes called reverse anorexia). Keep in mind that the notorious promulgators of this so-called mental disorder, like Dr. Harrison Pope, the lead writer of The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession (The Free Press, 2000; the subtitle was changed in paperback to How to Identify, Treat, and Prevent Body Obsession in Men and Boys, 2002), say that if you have even a few of these characteristics, you may be muscle dysmorphic & therefore in need of their treatment. Also, by "steroid abuse" they mean any steroid use for bodybuilding purposes; they even go so far as to say that if you are thinking of using steroids, that counts as a characteristic. By these standards, virtually every serious trainer is muscle dysmorphic, & all competitive bodybuilders are as well.
Common characteristics:
- Excessive exercising – for long durations and sometimes several times a day.
- Prioritising their training schedule above all other events so that there is no longer a balance between work, social life and exercise.
- Avoiding situations where their body might be exposed.
- Spending huge amounts on workout gear, gym memberships and supplements that promote muscle mass.
- Working out even when injured.
- Steroid abuse.
- Maintaining a strict, high-protein and low-fat diet.
- Wearing baggy clothes to disguise their bodies.
- Thinking others are sniggering about their body.
- Frequent mirror checking.
Last edited by hifrommike65; 01-03-2018 at 11:10 PM.
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01-03-2018, 11:13 PM #7
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Source of the above list of common characteristics:
http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/health...df4fe61766bda8
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01-03-2018, 11:18 PM #8
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One of the ploys of these "researchers" is to cite themselves & their previously published work over & over. The Journal of Eating Disorders publishes a lot of their work; I checked one article by Pope that asserted that boys were being predisposed to be body dysmorphic because of the size of the arms of their action figure heroes, like G.I. Joe (his "research" in this article was to measure the arms of the action figures). Half of the fairly long list of citations were to his own publications in that very journal.
I really hate the people who have declared bodybuilders mentally ill. As the subtitle shift in the paperback edition indicates, the book caught the attention of parents who were afraid their boys were in danger of mental illness by wanting to lift weights & getting bitten by the iron bug. If you want to know why fewer boys went into teen competition in the last two decades, this book is one of the reasons.Last edited by hifrommike65; 01-03-2018 at 11:22 PM.
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01-03-2018, 11:31 PM #9
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I hear you, Masonic. I agree that obsession can be counterproductive, & put your health (mental, physical, emotional) at risk. That said, high achievers pretty much have to be obsessive to accomplish things at an elite level. I had to get obsessed with my dissertation to complete it. I know a lot of people who remained ABD (all but dissertation, completing all requirements for the Ph.D. but the dissertation, & then not finishing). However, my professional work required that I have that degree, so I did what it took to finish it. It caused me great distress, cost me a personal relationship & tons of money, not to mention anguish, heartache, depression & despair at times--but I finished it, & benefited in the long run. However, using the framework of the bigorexia honchos, it could easily be argued that subjecting myself to the pressures of a dissertation made me mentally ill. It is not the over-commitment that it takes to accomplish something high end, but how we harness our inner resources to cope with stress that matters. If we can't aspire to great things that take everything we have & ask for more, then great things will never happen for us.
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01-03-2018, 11:58 PM #10
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https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=414597
I found an interesting thread on another website that had some heated back & forth debate on the bigorexia issue. It's several years old, but the issues are the same as now.
BTW, I am not saying that bodybuilding can't be part of an OCD. Of course it can. & it might create a condition that people who work out share. (One part of the debate that hasn't come up here is whether women can be bigorexic, but it appears to be gendered towards boys & men.) But people who work out also share sports injuries; that doesn't make working out a bad thing.
The one thing that I agree with in terms of distorted self-image of bodybuilders is a competitor who is trying to win shows & is unable to do so. The competition is so tough at the top of the class or in the class winner lineup, & the judging can be so subjective, that it can really do a number on someone's head. I've seen people who not only gave up competition but never walked into a gym again. & that is unfortunate.Last edited by hifrommike65; 01-03-2018 at 11:59 PM.
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