Post by Tim Wescott on Feb 8, 2004 23:26:02 GMT -5
Body Dysmorphia- Could This Be You ??
Women aren't the only ones who worry about the way their bodies look: men are just as obsessed. New research indicates that many men fret over the size of their pecs. In the first of two related studies, researchers from Boston's McLean Hospital compared 30 normal weightlifters to 24 men with muscle dysmorphia--a disorder defined by a pathological preoccupation with increasing muscularity. They discovered that men with muscle dysmorphia often suffered from shame, embarrassment, and impaired social and occupational functioning.
Like people who have eating disorders, these men typically perceived their appearance inaccurately--they thought they looked puny, when in fact they were extremely muscular. As a result of their misperception and embarrassment, the men avoided activities, places and people; established strict weightlifting and dietary regimens; and relinquished well-paying professional jobs to work at gymnasiums where they would have more time to lift weights.
"This is a widespread, secret phenomenon," explains Harrison G. Pope Jr., M.D., M.P.H., co-author of the recent American Journal of Psychiatry study and a Harvard University psychology professor. "In our society, it's easier for women to talk about body image concerns. Real men aren't supposed to fuss about their bodies."
But real men do, according to the second study, which was conducted by Pope's team in conjunction with researchers from the University of Innsbruck in Austria and the Salpetriere Hospital in Paris. This study, also published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, focused on college-aged men in Austria, France and the United States. Results showed that men from all three countries wanted a body that was on average 28 pounds more muscular than their own, and they believed that women preferred a male body that was up to 30 pounds more muscular. But another pilot study by the same authors found that women actually preferred a "normal male body without added muscle."
Pope, who co-authored The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession (April 2000), cites studies conducted by PSYCHOLOGY TODAY in 1972 and 1997 to evidence males' changing perceptions of their bodies. According to the 1972 study, he said, 25% of the male participants said they were dissatisfied with their bodies. That number jumped to 67% in the 1997 follow-up study. The 1972 study also found that 18% of men were dissatisfied with the size of their chests, a number that again escalated in 1997 to 38%.
The researchers believe that these types of perceptions might provide an explanation for the significant rise in disorders like muscle dysmorphia, and are currently conducting research focused on adolescent boys in hopes of discovering preventive measures.