What is muscle dysmorphia?
As the popularity of bodybuilding increases, evidence
suggests that increasing numbers of young men are
becoming dissatisfied with their appearance. The nature
of this dissatisfaction is not a desire for smaller and
slimmer bodies, as is most often the case in women, but
rather larger and more muscular ones (Pope et al.,
2000a).
A pathological pre-occupation with overall muscularity
and leanness appears to be a relatively new body
image disturbance that primarily affects men. The
condition first entered the literature in 1993 when Pope,
Katz and Hudson described a condition they termed
‘reverse anorexia’ in a population of male bodybuilders.
These men, although they were highly muscular,
believed that they appeared inadequately small and
weak. They declined social invitations, wore heavy
clothes even in the heat of summer and refused to be
seen at the beach. The term reverse anorexia was based
upon the prevalence of past anorexia nervosa amongst
this sample and the similarity in body-related concerns
and behaviours to those suffering from eating disorders.
These men expressed a desire to gain greater
musculature whilst not gaining fat. (Choi, Pope, &
Olivardia, 2002).
Pope and his colleagues have since dominated
research into this entity, subsequently renaming the
condition ‘muscle dysmorphia’, classifying it as a
subtype of body dysmorphic disorder and proposing
the operational diagnostic criteria presented in
Table 1 (Pope,