Vigorexia: when weight gain becomes obsession

Published: 06/01/2010 - Updated: 07/12/2016

The vigorexia is a mood disorder where a person looks in the mirror and sees very low and weak muscle tone, so he feels obliged to make any kind of physical exercise routines and compulsively and constantly taking everything type of product, so to gain muscle mass. Weight gain can become an obsession, it can affect both women and men from youth to adult, and may be a condition far more dangerous than bulimia and anorexia, and although not yet recognized as a disease by the medical community, there are severe consequences evident that this condition entails.

This extremely dangerous condition or behavior can begin with the simple idea of gaining weight; bodybuilding is a sport that is more closely associated with this condition.

The vigorexia may be manifested by:

  • The extreme sport activity (spending more than three hours in physical activity).
  • Eating compulsively in order to gain weight, looking in the mirror and seen as very thin.

What causes it?

Mainly it is an emotional disorder that leads to an eating disorder. Some causes are:

  • Nervous system: Certain biochemical alterations in brain neurotransmitters, specifically related to serotonin.
  • Socio-cultural influence: that the beauty of a person is based on physical appearance, the strict canons of beauty and stereotypes cause great anxiety when the individual feels, above all, very insecure about his person compared with the figure accepted, applauded and recognized.
  • Psychological aspects: it is important to mention that not knowing what to do with the emotional pain, isolation or denying it, can cause a person resort to different behaviors, one of them may be the vigorexia, the body becomes a disproportionate armor. This type of people usually find it very difficult to accept difficult feelings and support the grief, sadness or even, on occasion, have difficulty handling situations that require emotional softness and sweetness, because this represents for them a form of weakness, which is hypersensitive. Another fact that gives clues as to why this condition is that the person controls the emotions too, has a tendency to control and deny the anger.

How to detect and prevent it?

Symptoms that may have a person with vigorexia are:

  • The person usually thinks that he has not the adequate body.
  • There is disapproval, rejection or blame for his image.
  • There is an obsession to get a muscular body.
  • The training often is excessive and exhausting.
  • The taking of supplements, products and pills for weight gain is excessive and disproportionate, the diet is overly rich in protein foods low in carbohydrates and fats, eat more with the intention of gaining muscle mass that they perceive to be lacking.
  • Often use anabolic steroids, to provide or improve body proportions.
  • They tend to be people with a tendency to discontent, anger, or emotional intolerance, have difficulty expressing what they feel and think deeply.
  • Play a sport no matter the weather or other circumstances; they are forced to follow routines despite anything else.
  • When starting to become obsessed, they can leave aside their social obligations, including labor and cultural things.
  • They feel angry or guilty when they cannot perform their routine.
  • They are so susceptible to the opinions or criticisms about how they practice or are.
  • Most often they look in the mirror and feel weighed.
  • Conduct is explosive, sometimes distant.

What are the consequences?

  • These people usually have problems in skeletal system due to excessive weight.
  • Abuse in the food, protein products may degenerate into all sorts of ailments, affecting and injuring important organs like the heart and liver mainly.
  • Lack of agility and body movement, due to the hardness of the muscles.
  • There may be dizziness, seizures, impaired fertility, erectile dysfunction, prostate, stomach, headaches, etc.

What to do?

When a person is detected with this problem, you must use various aids, usually because, like any addict, he can find difficulty assuming this condition, many of them believe that they are "doing the right thing."

It is necessary above all to focus on self-esteem work, avoiding rejection, looking for an alternative to work on the emotional-affective. Bioenergetics is one of the best ways to treat this condition, since it takes into account both the physical and mental aspect and / or individual's emotional part, supporting a process of releasing blockages, overcoming the forces that inhibit self-expression of the individual and helping to regain contact with the self, its valuation as a person and free creative expression and distortion conditions a little unsure whether personality.

If it is difficult to convince the person to continue treatment as proposed, you can help then with readings that provide information or give new perspectives of life. At present there are a variety of books for working with self-esteem, which can be gradually expanding the understanding of the person and support in solving and understanding of the emotional world.

About the author
  • K. Laura Garcés G

    Writer, therapist and lecturer. She is a lover of natural medicine and the power of mind and emotions in body and life. In addition, he has studied nutrition and develops appropriate diets to support this healing process.She has written more than 1500 articles in magazines in Spain and Mexico, winner of two literature contests. Linkedin.