Vigoressia

Generality

Vigorexia, or bigorexia, is a form of dysmorphophobia, characterized by the constant obsession with muscle tone, training, lean mass, a low-calorie and high-protein diet and, finally, the athletic fit of the body.

In people with vigoressia, the obsession with the above is such that: there is nothing other than physical exercise; social life and work are in the background; the appearance of the body and nutrition are at the center of every daily thought; the sport of choice is weight lifting; the use of dietary supplements and the abuse of anabolic steroids take over;
The causes of vigorexia are to be identified in a combination of factors of a different nature, including: psychological factors, social factors and biological factors.
The diagnosis of vigorexia is based on some diagnostic criteria, appropriately recognized by experts, which concern the obsessive concern for the body and its muscle tone, for training and for diet.
Treatment consists of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, sometimes associated with drug therapy based on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
The greatest difficulties in treating vigoressia lie in convincing the patient that he is suffering from a disease and that he needs help.

What is vigorexia?

Vigorexia, or bigorexia, is a subtype of dysmorphophobia, characterized by the continuous and obsessive concern for muscle tone and its training, for lean mass and its maintenance through a strict diet and, finally, for the loss of athleticism by of the body, as a result of physical inactivity.
In other words, who suffers from vigorexia is a person who has an "obsession with" muscle training, a lean and athletic body and a diet aimed specifically at "muscle growth"; in the same way, he is also a person with an obsessive fear of losing a muscle tone acquired after years of training and sacrifices and who is intolerant to any imperfection of his muscles.

WHAT IS DYSMORPHOBIA? BRIEF REVIEW

Dysmorphophobia is a mental pathology, characterized by the obsessive concern, and often without foundation, that a particular part of the body (eg: the nose) is the bearer of an "imperfection so evident that it must be hidden with every possible remedy, even the most extreme (eg: cosmetic surgery).
Among psychiatrists and psychologists, it is unanimous that dysmorphophobia is an obsessive-compulsive disorder.

OTHER NAMES OF VIGORESSIA

In addition to the term bigorexia, vigorexia is also known as muscle dysmorphia, inverse anorexia or Adonis complex.

CLASSIFICATION: UNCERTAINTIES

According to some experts, as a subtype of dysmorphophobia, vigorexia is considered an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
According to other scholars, however, dysmorphophobia is more similar to an eating disorder, the latter category to which diseases such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia belong.

EPIDEMIOLOGY

Vigorexia is a particularly widespread condition in the male population and among athletes.
However, it should be noted that, according to the most recent statistical surveys, it is becoming increasingly popular among women as well.

Spread of vigorexia among the body builder
According to some statistical research, vigorexia would affect about 10% of the subjects who practice body building.

SOME HISTORICAL NEWS RELATING TO VIGORESSIA

Vigorexia is a state of mind that belongs to modern times. In fact, its first description in a "reliable scientific journal dates back to 1993. At the time, the term most used to indicate it was inverse anorexia, to contrast it with" anorexia nervosa.

Causes

According to experts in eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders, vigorexia is due to a combination of factors of different nature, including: biological factors, psychological factors and social factors.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS: THE ROLE OF "SELF-ESTEEM

From the study of the precise causes of vigoressia and, in particular, from the analysis of psychological factors, it would seem that the level of self-esteem plays a very important causal role.

In fact, individuals with low self-esteem have a greater tendency to develop an obsessive concern for the muscle tone of their body and for all those manias, which characterize muscle dysmorphia.

SOCIAL FACTORS: THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA

Those who have been studying vigorxia and its characteristics for years now believe that the most important social factor associated with the appearance of the aforementioned condition is the continuous media exposure to the myth "lean equals beautiful", typical of modern Western culture. magazines or television programs, the probability of coming across advertisements or services, which feature well-known characters with a lean, toned, muscular physique (especially if the subject is a man) and free from imperfections, is very high.

Symptoms, signs and complications

The symptoms of vigorexia consist of completely characteristic abnormal behaviors.
The "list of typical behaviors of an individual with vigoressia includes:

Worrying, in an obsessive and often unfounded way, that your body is not sufficiently lean, muscular and athletic;
Practicing extreme exercise programs, which take up many hours of the day and which mainly consists of lifting weights;
Having an excessive and obsessive attention to nutrition, which, specifically, must include only healthy, low-calorie and high-protein foods (NB: a diet rich in protein can promote muscle hypertrophy if associated with adequate training) ;
To place sports training and body care before social life and work;
Devote most of their time and many of their economic resources to attend gyms, fitness centers, beauty centers and to purchase clothes that deal with body care and sports training aimed at muscle growth;
Constantly looking in the mirror, looking for any imperfections in the muscles. By the same principle, categorically avoid looking in the mirror in a period of physical inactivity due to force majeure;
Training even in the presence of muscle injuries, which would discourage sports;
Continuously resort to food supplements;
Using anabolic steroids to increase muscle mass.

Curiosity
According to an "interesting statistical research, almost all people with vigorexia use anabolic steroids.

COMPLICATIONS

If not treated adequately, vigorexia can have serious repercussions on the quality of life of the person concerned. Indeed:

The use of anabolic steroids, especially if reckless, is responsible for serious side effects, such as testicular atrophy, gynecomastia, cardiac hypertrophy, psychosis, etc .;
Putting training before interpersonal relationships and work activity can lead, respectively, to social isolation and job loss;
The social isolation and loss of work mentioned above are possible causes of depression and suicidal thoughts;
Continuous training, without rest days and with extreme loads, can have an opposite effect on the muscular system, weakening it and making it more and more susceptible to injuries;
High-protein diets (ie high-protein diets) excessively engage the kidneys, so much so that the latter, in the long run, could suffer serious damage.

Diagnosis

In order to reach a definitive diagnosis of vigorexia, it is essential to find the obsessive concern that the body is too thin and not sufficiently muscular, and the finding of abnormal behaviors, associated with the mania for weight lifting and for a low-calorie and high-protein diet.

DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA

In a subject with vigorexia, the obsessive concern for muscle tone and the mania for weight lifting and low-calorie diet can manifest themselves in at least four ways, which represent, according to experts, four important diagnostic criteria:

1st criterion: the individual with vigoressia puts physical exercise and attention to diet before anything that could, in some way, make him give up a training session or make him eat inadequately according to his habits;
2nd criterion: the individual avoids showing his body to others, for the fear, often unfounded, of not being sufficiently thin or athletic. If he could not really avoid it, showing himself in public leads him to develop anxiety, stress and discomfort;
3rd criterion: the obsessive concern for muscle tone and training is such as to lead to social isolation, job loss, etc .;
4th criterion: the individual continues in the practice of physical exercise, even in spite of injuries, and in the use of anabolics, despite the awareness of the harmful effects that the latter have on his health.

To be able to speak of vigorexia, it is sufficient that the concern for the body manifests itself even with only two of these four diagnostic criteria.

DIAGNOSTIC PROBLEMS

Diagnosing vigorexia is somewhat complex, as affected subjects tend to hide their problems or, even worse, do not realize they have a distorted view of their body. These typical attitudes, on the part of patients, are the main reason why vigorexia is underdiagnosed (i.e. the real number of affected people is greater than believed).

Therapy

The treatment of first choice for the treatment of vigorexia consists of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, combined with a drug therapy based on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Having said that, treating vigorxia is very complicated, as it is very difficult to convince the patient that he suffers from a pathology and that he is leading an abnormal life and a source of damage to the social and working sphere.

SUPPORT OF FRIENDS AND RELATIVES

According to psychiatrists and psychologists, the support of relatives and friends is essential to persuade people with vigoressia to undergo specific treatments. The latter must, above all, draw the patient's attention to the negative consequences that vigorexia is having on daily life, on social life, on work, on economic resources, etc.

COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOTHERAPY

Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy aims to teach the patient suffering from vigorexia how to identify, dominate and prevent problematic behaviors (in specialist jargon, "inactive behaviors" or "distorted thoughts"), which characterize the obsessive concern for an alleged thinness or poor muscle tone.
Furthermore, it is of enormous help in providing a method of identifying the so-called "symptom triggers", ie the factors that trigger pathological behaviors.
Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy includes a part "in the studio", with the psychotherapist, and a part "at home", reserved for the exercise and improvement of domination and prevention techniques.

Prognosis

If the patient agrees to undergo the foreseen treatments and gives continuity to the sessions of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, the vigorexia tends to have a positive prognosis.
To compromise the prognosis, even in spite of adequate treatment, could be the prolonged use, before starting the therapy, of anabolic steroids. Remember, in fact, that these substances can have long-term side effects with irreversible consequences.