Body dysmorphia. Oh brother.

[_aj_]

Do you spend a lot of time in the gym? Check
Do you obsess about the size of your muscles? Check
Do you think you should have bigger muscles? Check

 

Since when does striving for self-improvement have to be a disorder? We used to refer to that as a net positive. Sometimes, you really DO look like a steaming pile of shit. There is far too much unearned self-regard in this country. I'm sorry, but you really are weak and really do need more muscle and yes, women actually do dig guys with muscles. Deal with it.

[Powerlift66]

Nothing wrong with people trying to look and feel their best.

The thing hat kills me is the people who look like utter shit, and think they are Arnold (Genova, Blaha, etc).

Body delusiona...

[WannaBePro]

I cosign this.
People these days are told to love their bodies no matter what. But what if you love being muscular? Why isn't that OK?
Bettering yourself is always a good thing, doesn't matter in what.
I know this analogy is way off base, but I liken it to telling a student who strives to achieve their PhD to just stop at a masters degree. I mean, you're plenty smart, why do you need a PhD? Just be happy with a masters. Fucking pussies with no ambition in life.

[affeman]

Do you spend a lot of time in the gym? Check
Do you obsess about the size of your muscles? Check
Do you think you should have bigger muscles? Check

 

Since when does striving for self-improvement have to be a disorder? We used to refer to that as a net positive. Sometimes, you really DO look like a steaming pile of shit. There is far too much unearned self-regard in this country. I'm sorry, but you really are weak and really do need more muscle and yes, women actually do dig guys with muscles. Deal with it.

It's a fine line between "striving for self-improvement" and having a mental disorder destroying or at least severely impacting every aspect of your social life and/or career.

[_aj_]

It's a fine line between "striving for self-improvement" and having a disorder destroying or at least severely impacting every aspect of your social life and/or career.

It's actually not "a fine line", it's a huge honking blinking line that anybody can see. Pretending that going to the gym 4-6 times a week is some kind of gateway drug to living in the dumpster outside of Golds is just retarded.

That is the kind of shit that the weak tell themselves so that they stay content with their weakness. It's shameful.

[SuperTed]

At the most extreme level, body dysmorphia is a major issue that can be damaging to both your mental and physical health. See Rich Piana for an example of that.

[affeman]

Pretending that going to the gym 4-6 times a week is some kind of gateway drug to living in the dumpster outside of Golds is just retarded.

You go to the gym 4-6 times a week? Do you spend just as much time caring about your friends, family, social contacts? Do you still have time to educate yourself intellectually, reading books, learning languages, further your career?

Or is basically a majority of your spare time lifting, eating/taking supps and prepping food? Just be honest to yourself, you don't have to be honest to others.

[_aj_]

You go to the gym 4-6 times a week? Do you spend just as much time caring about your friends, family, social contacts? Do you still have time to educate yourself intellectually, reading books, learning languages, further your career?

Or is basically a majority of your spare time lifting, eating/taking supps and prepping food? Just be honest to yourself, you don't have to be honest to others.

I go to the gym 6-7 times a week. I structure much of my spare time to allow for this indulgence. I have a family and by most measures are at the peak of my chosen career. I am a good husband, father, friend and neighbor and still have time to be considered "body dysmorphic" by the fat and lazy of the world.

[Never1AShow]

Do you spend a lot of time in the gym? Check
Do you obsess about the size of your muscles? Check
Do you think you should have bigger muscles? Check

 

Since when does striving for self-improvement have to be a disorder? We used to refer to that as a net positive. Sometimes, you really DO look like a steaming pile of shit. There is far too much unearned self-regard in this country. I'm sorry, but you really are weak and really do need more muscle and yes, women actually do dig guys with muscles. Deal with it.

[affeman]

I go to the gym 6-7 times a week. I structure much of my spare time to allow for this indulgence. I have a family and by most measures are at the peak of my chosen career. I am a good husband, father, friend and neighbor and still have time to be considered "body dysmorphic" by the fat and lazy of the world.

Classic answer you'd get from most tragic gym monks

[Never1AShow]

It's actually not "a fine line", it's a huge honking blinking line that anybody can see. Pretending that going to the gym 4-6 times a week is some kind of gateway drug to living in the dumpster outside of Golds is just retarded.

That is the kind of shit that the weak tell themselves so that they stay content with their weakness. It's shameful.

Can I get some HRT prescribed to treat it?  Don't they give methadone to heroin addicts?  Seems only fair to give HRT to the poor suffering souls.

[falco]

I noticed i had some sort of body dysmorphia when i was prepping for a contest years ago: I was getting bigger and ripped daily, but everytime i looked in the mirror i felt frustation because i perceived myself smaller.
Everybody in the gym was giving me props due to my improved size and conditioning, and girls were starting to tell me i was getting too muscular and starting to be repulsive sexually.
I believe the hormones played a role in how i felt because when i stopped using i became "normal" emotionally.

[_aj_]

Also, this faux epidemic has also given rise to such derivative retardation as the "dad bod", where women try to pretend that the pear shaped man is actually preferable. It didn't last long, as biology asserted itself quite resoundingly.

I have a female friend recently returned to the dating scene. She's a gym rat and very buff. At first, she tried to shrug off the need, saying that she just wanted a man that "knows how to take care of himself" ( ). After a few dates with the sad state of single/divorced men out there, she finally came clean that she "needs a man with actual visible muscle". See, this is the triumph of biology over pathetic pretend social constructs.

[Weedlejuice]

Do you spend a lot of time in the gym? Check
Do you obsess about the size of your muscles? Check
Do you think you should have bigger muscles? Check

 

Since when does striving for self-improvement have to be a disorder? We used to refer to that as a net positive. Sometimes, you really DO look like a steaming pile of shit. There is far too much unearned self-regard in this country. I'm sorry, but you really are weak and really do need more muscle and yes, women actually do dig guys with muscles. Deal with it.

I can put on 20lbs and lose 20lbs without really noticing, should come in handy when its time to pack it in.

[King Shizzo]

Aj, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Your lack of "sufficient" results, for someone who has trained for 30 years, proves that your mind/muscle connection is non existent.

They have a word for that: Delusional.

[Parker]

I cosign this.
People these days are told to love their bodies no matter what. But what if you love being muscular? Why isn't that OK?
Bettering yourself is always a good thing, doesn't matter in what.
I know this analogy is way off base, but I liken it to telling a student who strives to achieve their PhD to just stop at a masters degree. I mean, you're plenty smart, why do you need a PhD? Just be happy with a masters. Fucking pussies with no ambition in life.

The reason why is so that nobody feels bad about themselves. Everybody needs to be accepted. And nobody wants to feel left out or unattractive. Unfortunately, doing something to make yourself look and feel better than the rest of the "herd", means that you are telling them that you are better, and it highlights their weaknesses.

[SF1900]

The reason why is so that nobody feels bad about themselves. Everybody needs to be accepted. And nobody wants to feel left out or unattractive. Unfortunately, doing something to make yourself look and feel better than the rest of the "herd", means that you are telling them that you are better, and it highlights their weaknesses.

Body dysmorphia DOES exist. It's real, even if you think it doesn't exist.

The problem is that you're taking body dysmorphia out of context. You're fitting the behavior into a small framework and saying, "Look, it really doesn't exist." Yup, sounds like critical thinking to me. 

[TheShape.]

I believe it only really becomes a issue when it's taking up the majority of your time and you start taking drugs to reach your goals. That being said I'm borderline body dysmorphic.

[_aj_]

The reason why is so that nobody feels bad about themselves. Everybody needs to be accepted. And nobody wants to feel left out or unattractive. Unfortunately, doing something to make yourself look and feel better than the rest of the "herd", means that you are telling them that you are better, and it highlights their weaknesses.

I agree except we are not "telling them that we are better", we are telling them that we strive to be better than we are and by doing so, we prove our superiority via determination if not outright objectively looking better than them.

[_aj_]

Body dysmorphia DOES exist. It's real, even if you think it doesn't exist.

The problem is that you're taking body dysmorphia out of context. You're fitting the behavior into a small framework and saying, "Look, it really doesn't exist." Yup, sounds like critical thinking to me. 

Is it any better than your taking of a small problem and enlarging it to fit a larger population to achieve a socially deterministic outcome? I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but in vanishingly small numbers of cases. The rest is just a bunch of twinks and fatasses trying to feel better about what they see in the mirror.

Oh, and here are a few obligatory 

[King Shizzo]

I agree except we are not "telling them that we are better", we are telling them that we strive to be better than we are and by doing so, we prove our superiority via determination if not outright objectively looking better than them.

But when does the amount of work put in justify the diminished returns?

If you enjoy doing it, then by all means continue, but working out 6-7 times a week is clearly overkill in your case.

That is what you must come to grips with. Are you progressing, or are you annihilating, and wasting most of your time?

I'd say you would get the same results from working out 3 times a week, but your body dysmorphia is obviously telling you otherwise.

Plain and simple: You are addicted to working out. Lack of results nonwithstanding.

[SF1900]

Is it any better than your taking of a small problem and enlarging it to fit a larger population to achieve a socially deterministic outcome? I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but in vanishingly small numbers of cases. The rest is just a bunch of twinks and fatasses trying to feel better about what they see in the mirror.

Oh, and here are a few obligatory  

No, its not better, but when youre waking up at 3am to go to the gym, missing school and work, ignoring your wife/children/friends, and spending your savings on steroids/supplements, and youre life is going down the shitter, all in the name of "getting big," then, yes, its a huge problem.

The issue is that nothing is diagnosed as a disorder unless it interferes with various domains of functioning. For any behavior to be diagnosed as a disorder, it must "cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning." You're sort of missing that VERY important piece. Obviously, I would not expect you to know this small nuance when diagnosing a disorder. But its an important part in whether someone will be diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Nonetheless, someone can have traces of BDD without actually being diagnosed with it.

But, when all is said and done, yes, I do believe that BDD is just spouted off, without people really understanding the fine nuances of it. Is it real? Absolutely. Is it an overhyped saying? Absolutely.

 

[SF1900]

But when does the amount of work put in justify the diminished returns?

If you enjoy doing it, then by all means continue, but working out 6-7 times a week is clearly overkill in your case.

That is what you must come to grips with. Are you progressing, or are you annihilating, and wasting most of your time?

I'd say you would get the same results from working out 3 times a week, but your body dysmorphia is obviously telling you otherwise.

Plain and simple: You are addicted to working out. Lack of results nonwithstanding.

Tried to troll AJ with your first response, and you were ignored by him.

Then you come back with a more serious post, in order to bait him.

Geez, you desire his attention that badly, huh? 

[_aj_]

No, its not better, but when youre waking up at 3am to go to the gym, missing school and work, ignoring your wife/children/friends, and spending your savings on steroids/supplements, and youre life is going down the shitter, all in the name of "getting big," then, yes, its a huge problem.

The issue is that nothing is diagnosed as a disorder unless it interferes with various domains of functioning. For any behavior to be diagnosed as a disorder, it must "cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning." You're sort of missing that VERY important piece in your tirade. Obviously, I would not expect you to know this small nuance when diagnosing a disorder. But its an important part in whether someone will be diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Nonetheless, someone can have traces of BDD without actually being diagnosed with it.

But, when all is said and done, yes, I do believe that BDD is just spouted off, without people really understanding the fine nuances of it. Is it real? Absolutely. Is it an overhyped saying? Absolutely.

 

Well, I accept that distinction. I suppose that I am talking about the non-clinical "social" diagnosis that seems to underlie much of the fat acceptance movement, not the clinical diagnosis. That said, clinical psychology has a penchant for allowing social movements to determine diagnostic trends. Witness the redefinition of autism and the explosion of clinical diagnosis of ADD in otherwise active boys. I suspect that clinical psychology to "catch up" to the social diagnosis soon.

[El Diablo Blanco]

There is something to it.  On some mornings I'll feel bloated and wear a tank to the beach or park and see a bunch of fatasses shirtless.  I'm in better shape than any of those guys but If I don't feel on point I won't take off my shirt.