Female muscle dysmorphia: symptoms, causes and effects in women.

A summary of the characteristics of female muscle dysmorphia, a very harmful disorder.

Muscle dysmorphia is a disorder which was originally described by Harrison Pope in 1993 and is mainly characterized by an obsession to continuously gain more muscle mass, possessing a distortion of one's own body image so that the person tends to see herself as less developed on a muscular level than she really is.

There is a greater prevalence of muscular dysmorphia in men; however, female muscular dysmorphia has been increasing notably in recent years. It should be pointed out that the symptomatology of female muscular dysmorphia is very similar to that existing in men.

In this article we will explain in more detail what female muscular dysmorphia consists ofBut before we will give some data referring to this disorder that it is convenient to know previously.

What is muscular dysmorphia?

Muscular dysmorphia has been diagnosed predominantly in males, with 80% of the cases.However, there are studies that have found that in recent years there has been a notable increase in the number of cases of female muscular dysmorphia, being a disorder that tends to begin to appear at ages between 18 and 35, although cases are increasingly occurring at earlier ages, to which is added the problem of the high risk of the consumption or abuse of steroids or anabolic substances in people suffering from this disorder.

Muscle dysmorphia, also frequently referred to as "vigorexia", reverse anorexia or Adonis complex, is a psychopathology whose diagnosis has given rise to some ambiguities when it comes to classification due to its relationship with eating disorders (ED), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and also with disorders related to a distortion of one's own body image.

However, in the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), muscular dysmorphia is classified under obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD). is classified under the obsessive-compulsive disordersMore specifically, as a specifier of body dysmorphic disorder.

Muscle dysmorphia or vigorexia is a disorder which consists of the obsession to continuously gain more muscle mass.The reason for this is that these people do not see themselves as sufficiently muscular despite having large muscles, and they are never satisfied with the results obtained because they have a perception of their own body image that does not correspond to reality.

What does female muscle dysmorphia consist of?

As we have previously mentioned, female muscular dysmorphia, despite being less prevalent than male muscular dysmorphia, has been increasing in terms of the number of cases in recent years., which is why in 2015 Amador Cernuda carried out an investigation in this regard with 1,115 women, aged between 17 and 61 years, who performed physical exercise in major gyms in 7 autonomous communities of Spain.

These women had to answer a survey related to muscle dysmorphia and body image, as well as the "Adonis Complex Questionnaire", which consists of 13 questions and was developed by Harrison Pope and his collaborators to evaluate whether a person suffered from muscle dysmorphia. Pope has also been probably the most recognized researcher in the field of research on muscular dysmorphia and is also the one who coined the terms vigorexia or inverse anorexia.

The results of the study were quite surprising, since 123 women, representing 11.03% of the total sample, were found to fit within a diagnosis of female muscular dysmorphia, since they had shown a pathological preoccupation with their body image. and they also acknowledged having consumed anabolic substances with the aim of increasing their muscle mass in an attempt to achieve their physical and aesthetic goals.

On the other hand, 28.15% of the total sample of those investigated showed, although to a lesser extent than the previous ones, a serious concern for their body image, without meeting all the criteria for the diagnosis of muscular dysmorphia, although they were at risk of developing this psychopathology or any other related to body image, such as an eating disorder (e.g., anorexia).

It is also noteworthy that 71% of the study population reported being unhappy with their abdomen and 67% of those studied reported being unhappy with the appearance of their buttocks for a variety of reasons. Another interesting fact is that 53% of all those investigated were aware of the existence of trafficking in anabolic substances in the world of fitness and bodybuilding.

Explanatory model of muscular dysmorphia.

We will now explain a series of factors which influence the development of female muscular dysmorphia, being similar to those which influence the development of female muscular dysmorphia.These factors are similar to those which influence the case of men, serving as an orientative scheme, since in order to make a complete diagnosis it would be necessary to carry out a more exhaustive evaluation which would allow for the analysis of each individual case.

Predisposing factors

Research has found that the most frequent predisposing factors in cases of muscular dysmorphia are a certain influence of genetic predisposition, a series of socio-environmental factors, having certain addictive and compulsive tendencies or having experienced a series of negative experiences in the past with respect to one's own body image, among others.

These factors, when combined with some triggering factors, such as those mentioned below, increase the probabilities of developing muscular dysmorphia or vigorexia.

Triggering factors

Triggering factors are those that can act as a trigger in people who were previously predisposed to the development of this disorder. These factors include the fact of having suffered a highly traumatic, hurtful or stressful experience provoked by one's own body imageThe result could trigger an obsession with improving one's physical appearance, and one way to do this could be the pursuit of constant body mass gain.

3. Maintaining factors

These factors would be those that reinforce the maintenance of female muscular dysmorphia over time when it has already been triggered. The maintaining factors, in addition to maintaining the muscular dysmorphia, could also accentuate the associated symptoms. could also accentuate the associated symptomssuch as the obsession to gain more muscle mass or the distortion with respect to one's own body image.

Among the maintaining factors, social reinforcement in the form of praise from other people who admire notably muscular bodies, which encourages the person to continue increasing his or her musculature, should be highlighted. Social networks can play an important role here, as well as within the triggering factors.

Detrimental factors of female muscle dysmorphia.

In the research carried out on female and also male muscular dysmorphia, it has been possible to observe several risks that people who exceeded the limits in order to continue gaining muscle mass could suffer..

On a psychological level, it has been shown that muscular dysmorphia has serious repercussions in terms of feelings of irritability, attacks of anger, somewhat abrupt emotional changes, hostility, symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as a greater predisposition to the consumption of steroids. in order to increase muscle mass, which could cause a withdrawal syndrome if consumption is interrupted after a prolonged period of time using this type of substance.

In the most extreme cases, in which the use or abuse of anabolic steroids had been resorted to, both women and men could suffer serious cardiovascular, hepatic or renal problems, among others.

On the other hand, in cases of cases of female muscle dysmorphia with long-term steroid abuse, it has been for a prolonged period of time, it has been found that some women may suffer gynecomastia (also men), develop a hoarser voice, a notable decrease in body percentage and breast size, increased hair (hirsutism) and even cases of Hair Loss and an increase in clitoral size have been found.

On a physical level it has also been seen that female muscular dysmorphia, like male muscular dysmorphia, taken to the extreme, can, in the long term, cause bone and joint problems, muscle wasting, a greater propensity to injury and a notable loss of agility. in the long term they can cause bone and joint problems, muscle wasting, greater propensity to injury and a notable loss of agility..

Comorbidity

Pope and his collaborators conducted an investigation with people who performed anachronistic workouts (weightlifting) in the gym, having investigated with muscular dysmorphia and also people who did not suffer from this disorder. The results showed a high comorbidity of muscular dysmorphia with other pathologies at a psychological level, as we shall see as we shall see below, being notably higher than in those cases in which the persons did not have muscular dysmorphia.

In these cases, no distinction was made between cases of female and male muscle dysmorphia, but rather an evaluation was made with respect to the dichotomy between having or not having this disorder regardless of gender, so that these comorbidities could be quite similar in both female and male cases.

It was found that 58% of the cases of vigorexia or muscular dysmorphia presented depressive symptoms, compared to 20% found in the cases of women and men.It was found that 58% of the cases of vigorexia or muscular dysmorphia presented depressive symptoms, compared to 20% found in the cases which did not suffer from muscular dysmorphia; 29% of the cases with vigorexia presented comorbidity with anxiety disorders, compared to 3% in the persons without this disorder; and 29% of comorbidity between vigorexia and ED, compared to 7% of comorbidity in subjects who did not suffer from muscular dysmorphia or vigorexia.