Muscle Dysmorphia (Bigorexia)

Muscle dysmorphia is a psychological condition characterised by an obsessive preoccupation with being insufficiently muscular. Clinically classified as a form of body dysmorphic disorder, it shares the same underlying engine as anorexia: a relationship with the body that no physical change can satisfy.

The same preoccupation — a different expression

“For men I have never seen a lot of anorexia. What I see is bigorexia — men who have the same preoccupation as women: they want to be lean, they don’t want fat — but instead of being very skinny they want to become very big.” — Philippe Jacquet

Where anorexia pursues thinness, muscle dysmorphia pursues size and leanness. The physical goal is opposite. The psychological structure is identical: a body that is never enough.

Why it is underdiagnosed

Training extensively, controlling diet rigorously, pursuing a lean and muscular physique — in most contemporary Western cultures, this is admired. The disorder hides in plain sight. By the time it presents clinically, it has often been present for years.

The eating disorder men present with

Eating disorders in men are systematically under-recognised. Muscle dysmorphia requires the same clinical attention, and the same compassionate, non-shaming approach, as any other eating disorder.

Book a consultation with Philippe Jacquet — psychotherapist and Jungian analyst, London.