According to the World Health Organization, “A mental disorder is characterized by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotional regulation, or behaviour. It is usually associated with distress or impairment in important areas of functioning. There are many different types of mental disorders.” Now just about anyone would know some kind of disorder, but do you know what BDD is? BDD is a disorder that attacks people’s insecurities and can lead to the development of other disorders. The danger of Body Dysmorphic Disorder is that it flies under the radar, people don’t talk about it, and it can be deadly. Imagine constantly feeling unconfident and insecure about your body, either fearing the mirror, or staring in it for unhealthy amounts of time obsessing over every flaw you perceive. You have a goal, but you’ll never reach it, you’ll never be good enough for your own mind. You can obsess over your diet, you even may develop an eating disorder on the road to your perfect body. You don’t see progress and go into an extremely depressive state, turn to substance abuse, and can even be driven to the point of suicide. 

So what is BDD? 

According to John Hopkins Medicine, “Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental health problem. If you have BDD, you may be so upset about the appearance of your body that it gets in the way of your ability to live normally.” BDD essentially causes you to point out flaws in your personal appearance and fixate on them. Sometimes even to the point of obsession, BDD can cause daily life to be extremely hard. “Many of us have what we think are flaws in our appearance. But if you have BDD, your reaction to this “flaw” may become overwhelming.”(Hopkins) This fixation or obsession with flaws in a person’s appearance can take over your life and lead to other disorders. 

Hopkins also provided some insight on the causes of this disorder. They state that  “The cause of body dysmorphic disorder is thought to be a combination of environmental, psychological, and biological factors. Bullying or teasing may create or foster the feelings of inadequacy, shame, and fear of ridicule.” While there can be many other reasons, being bullied has a strong connection with the disorder. Being made to feel belittled or less-than by your peers can have serious negative effects on your mental health and has led to this disorder. BDD is perception-based and peoples’ words can affect how you see yourself. 

BDD in bodybuilding. 

There is a separate part of BDD disorder that is essentially the same, just more specific. Muscle dysmorphia is an obsession with muscle, flaws in physique, and the belief that you always need to get bigger, more shredded. Sirin Kale with The Guardian, defines it as, “A subset of body dysmorphic disorder, individuals with muscle dysmorphia feel they need to become bigger or more muscular, regardless of their size.” In fact there are professional bodybuilders who experience these thoughts and obsession despite having the same bodies that others idolize. A well known bodybuilder and content creator, Sam Sulek, openly discusses his struggles with body image and BDD despite his admirable physique, worshipped by a massive following on social media. 

The development of disorders caused by BDD is another issue. It can lead directly to eating disorders and is pretty much guaranteed to cause depression. Obsessing over your body, what food you put in it, and all the negative thoughts associated with your perceived flaws, all contribute to depression and eating disorders.  “About 30% of people with muscle dysmorphia will also have a medically diagnosable eating disorder, as those with the condition may follow extremely restrictive diets.”(Kale) Now nobody is saying that eating on a diet to make your body look better is a problem, but it gets to a point where it can be unhealthy. The age group seeming to be most affected by these disorders was shown in a study and presented in an article with The Guardian, “A study published in June found that 22% of men aged 18-24 reported muscularity-oriented disordered eating.”(Kale) That is a very high percentage of the young men who deal with this.  Addressing this issue should be important to people as so many are affected.

So where does social media come in?

Social media allows people to choose what they show to the world. Influencers can show off the good parts of their life and leave out the rest, painting a picture of a perfect lifestyle. The same goes for people who make a living posting their body for people to see. People idolize and obsess over physiques they see online. What they don’t realize is that these people can use the lighting, angles, and even editing to make themselves look even better. Bodybuilders will cut down, burning off all their extra fat for a competition, and show off their toned physiques, that almost dangerously lean look, and can portray this as a regular shape for them. “Social media reflects this standard back at you. “You’re being sold a false reality,” says Miles. “I can get into really good shape, right before I’m doing a bodybuilding competition, and use lighting and angles and filters to make my physique look even crazier than it already is, and save a bunch of pictures and upload them to make it seem that I always look like that, all year round.”(The Guardian) That along with steroid use makes social media full of crazy physiques, making it seem almost common. 

An environment that accepts this as the new norm for men causes people to see their flaws as big problems, leading to a rise in BDD in young adults. I spoke to my good friend Avery Goulet on the topic. Avery has been lifting for over a year and has achieved an impressive physique at just 18 years old. He was familiar with the term “Body Dysmorphia”, and actually was able to dive deep into how the disorder affects him personally. He then was asked to define Body Dysmorphia. Avery’s response, “Seeing yourself in a negative way, different from how others see you. Picking out flaws that aren’t there”, was extremely accurate and the conversation allowed me to see into the mind of someone else who experiences this. People just 18 years of age are already expecting to have a perfect body, despite still going through changes as they mature. I believe this ties back to social media, but more so a specific group of people who post. 

There has been a significant push for younger people to start lifting sooner; a good physique at a young age is impressive, and can be profitable on social media because it is less normal than a full grown man with a good physique. This has led to steroid abuse in certain individuals starting from extremely young ages. You’ll open your TikTok page and see insane lifts by these individuals who are destroying their still-developing bodies for attention and profit. On another note, people will lie about their age to make their physique more impressive. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come across videos that are meant to deceive and convince people that a person who is an adult on steroids, is actually a 16 year old natural lifter. It’s hard to tell real from fake on social media in this day and age, and the younger generations are more and more vulnerable as social media is taking over daily life. 

Finding help

If a person can acknowledge that they are experiencing BDD symptoms, there are options out there. According to the International OCD foundation, there are medications you can take for BDD treatment. Information on the types and doses can be found on the link above, but you’ll need to see a doctor to get the prescriptions. What many people have found helpful is CBT Therapy,  which is cognitive behavioral therapy. This is a form of talk therapy, focused on changing bad thought patterns and exploring the connection between thoughts, feelings, and actions. Learning to recognize these symptoms in others could quite literally save a life. Don’t hesitate to talk to your gymbro, friend, or family member if you notice something is up. It’s better to have the conversation and be safe. BDD is not something you have to feel embarrassed for or stay silent. Reach out, invest in your wellbeing by getting the help you need. You cannot claim to take care of your body if you don’t take care of your mind.