Vigorexia: Obsession With Sports And The Perfect Physique
The obsession with sports or rather, the tireless search for the perfect body through physical activity, can become a problem better known as: vigorexia. And although it is difficult to detect, it is a reality that is very present in the population and, especially, in young people.
When you stop paying attention to daily priorities and needs, you change your diet drastically, you begin to establish your whole life around exercise and there is an exaggerated concern about physical appearance, health is at risk. And not only the physical, but the mental.
What is vigorexia?
Also known as ‘Adonis complex’ or ‘athletic anorexia’, vigorexia is a disorder in which the person perceives themselves as weak, too thin, with little muscle mass. In other words, the subject has a distorted body image of himself. As a consequence, the person exercises in an exaggerated way and modifies their diet drastically. Yes, it is a type of addiction.
This disorder shares traits with anorexia and obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD). For example: the fixation to achieve a certain image -which comes to be the perfect body- and the respective compulsion -to exercise repeatedly-.
It is true that the practice of sport benefits health in various aspects and even helps to have discipline. However, when it becomes something that goes beyond an obligation, like a kind of slavery, and implies a dependency, you are not going in the right direction.
It is not easy to detect vigorexia with the naked eye, since vigoréxicos look good; but that does not mean that it cannot be diagnosed. In fact, professionals often diagnose it as: body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).
When a person has this disorder, they feel the need to do physical exercise constantly. She is not satisfied with herself and considers that she “does not work hard enough” to achieve her goal. And of course, you can’t really enjoy the activity you do either.
Causes?
The exact cause of the problem is unknown. However, it is considered that there are multiple sociocultural variables that considerably influence its development. Below are the main risk factors.
Risk factor’s
- Low self-esteem.
- Obsessive tendencies.
- Use of social networks.
- Being male.
- Be between 18-35 years of age.
- Be an athlete or professional athlete.
- Stereotypes, prejudices and socially accepted misconceptions (related to the cult of the image).
- Having a history of traumatic experiences related to the body.
- Psychological predisposition to suffer some type of body dysmorphia.
Treatment
Once the person recognizes that they have a problem, it will be easier to start helping them. But the first step must be taken on your own. From there, you can work on your lifestyle and the best ways to improve it. Not only should the duration of exercise be moderated, but other aspects, such as diet.
Obviously, the treatment approach must be multidisciplinary; that is, it should not only involve regular psychological care but also monitoring by a nutritionist and support from a coach.
The main goal is to help the person admit that they have a problem and that they need to change their lifestyle immediately. Above all, you must learn to eat a balanced diet, which includes all the food groups. In turn, the consumption of steroids and related substances must be eliminated in order to have a high performance and gain muscle mass in a short time.
From the social point of view, the person must be taught not to set aside their obligations and priorities to go to practice sports or exercise. The work will be difficult and intense, but it must be done to prevent the person from putting their life at risk.
The World Health Organization recommends practicing at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. So when you spend more than 3 hours a day in the gym, you are exceeding the recommended amount of time.
