muscle dysmorphia

(redirected from Adonis Complex)

A specific type of body dysmorphic disorder in which a person—usually male, average age 20—becomes obsessed with building muscle to the point where it impacts on his/her interactions with others, employment and his self-image. It is regarded as a treatment-resistant mental disorder, which typically occurs in bodybuilders who, while very muscular and physically fit, see a '97-pound weakling' in the mirror
Risk factors Bullying during primary, secondary school, family dysfunction, perfectionism, severe stress, aesthetic focus and negative influence of mass culture that promotes an idealised Arnold Schwarzenegger-type body
Management Antidepressants

muscle dysmorphia

Sports medicine A mental disorder seen in bodybuilders who, although very muscular and physically fit, still see the proverbial “90-pound weakling” when viewing themselves in the mirror Management Antidepressants. Cf Anorexia nervosa.

muscle dysmorphia

, muscle dysmorphic disorder

A body image disorder principally experienced by males, characterized by excessive fear about one's body size, esp. a concern that one's muscles are not large enough. Boys affected by muscle dysmorphia often take drugs, e.g., androgenic or anabolic steroids, to increase their body size. The syndrome is also known colloquially as bigorexia or vigorexia.

Synonym: reverse anorexia See: body dysmorphic disorder

Muscle dysmorphia

A subtype of BDD, described as excessive preoccupation with muscularity and body building to the point of interference with social, educational, or occupational functioning.

Mentioned in: Body Dysmorphic Disorder

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References in periodicals archive ?

Her conclusions on the question of the body include: a stern warning against the vanities of an Adonis complex, a recommendation that physical contests take the form of self-rivalry rather than rivalry against comrades, and a sound appreciation for the 'selective value' of strength, health, and fitness in the human life.

Nancy Sherman: Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind

While printing sympathetic editorials and wheeling out case studies of other bulimic men who had developed an "Adonis complex", the headlines inferred this was not 'manly' behaviour.

AGENDA: Prezza and Kylie and a marathon food binge

The Adonis Complex, named after the Greek god known for being annually renewed and ever-youthful, is staffed by five contracted personal trainers who take appointments around the clock.

The Adonis Complex

Pope Jr., MD, director of the biological psychiatry laboratory at Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital and author of The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession.

Wrestling with steroids: athletes attending the Gay Games in Chicago and the World Outgames in Montreal may be tested for steroids. But that may not mean disqualification

Scientists have discovered the Adonis complex, which affects guys who are either too puny or have a beer belly.

Juliet Lawrence Wilson: ADONIS IS TO DIE FOR

Olivardia is a psychology instructor at Harvard Medical School and co-author of The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession (Free Press, 2000).

Mirror, mirror on the wall ... are muscular men the best of all? The hidden turmoil of muscle dysmorphia

"One point that was made in "The Adonis Complex" is that men are more at risk because women have been exposed to these unrealistic body images for years, and they've learned to fight back and to question the reality.

Keep an eye on muscle-obsessed male patients: 'relatively new phenomenon'

But experts believe this obsession with muscle definition they call the Adonis complex is encouraging eating disorders among elite athletes.

Office ADONIS

In The Adonis Complex, US psychiatrists Harrison Pope, Katharine Phillips, and Roberto Olivardia argue that today, men have almost as much of a problem with body image as women.

ARE YOU A PECS MANIAC?; New Adonis complex wrecking lives of modern men, claim boffins

13.Harrison Pope, Katharine Phillips, and Roberto Olivardia, The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession (New York: Free Press, 2000), 56.

The feminization of american culture - Human Biology and Modern Chemicals

A recent book entitled The Adonis Complex, written by three medical researchers, suggests that male interest in the male body is intrinsically suspect, leading, in their view, to psychoses such as eating disorders (too much or too little) as well as to rampant and destructive steroid use in the quest of otherwise unattainably muscular physiques--the male equivalent of what women have suffered for decades.