Muscle Dysmorphia - Diagnosis

Diagnosis

Muscle dysmorphia can cause people to:

• Constantly examine themselves in a mirror
• Frequently compare themselves with others
• Want to increase muscle mass
• Dream of lifting weights and exercise
• Become distressed if they miss a workout session or one of their many meals a day
• Become distressed if they do not receive enough protein per day in their diet
• Use anabolic steroids, sometimes unsafely
• Neglect jobs, relationships, or family because of excessive exercising
• Have delusions of being underweight or below average in musculature.
• In extreme cases, inject appendages with fluid (e.g. synthol)
• Suffers from constant mood swings
• In extreme cases, being grumpy and short tempered

A diagnoses of muscle dysmorphic requires that a person exhibit symptoms of the type and degree outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for body dysmorphic disorder, and not merely appear over-interested in physique or engage in behaviors other people would find unwise. Muscle dysmorphia is becoming more common as societal pressures regarding male body image become more prominent to today's youth, but is not just a simple obsession with working out.

Muscle dysmorphia is most common in males and often starts in the late teens, although sometimes, they can be older. Olivardia and others found in a 2000 study that the average onset age was 19.4 years. It most often occurs in those who others already consider muscular, and is often accompanied by depression.