Muscle dysmorphia: a critical review of the proposed criteria

While body-image related disorders such as anorexia nervosa have focused on thinness, only recently have clinical criteria for a disorder that centers around muscularity--muscle dysmorphia--been proposed. An individual affected by muscle dysmorphia is overly concerned with his or her degree of muscularity. This preoccupation is manifested in the individual's behavior (excessive weight lifting, excessive attention to diet, social impairment). This article examines the historical aspects and proposed criteria for muscle dysmorphia and contrasts them with those of anorexia nervosa. While the authors of the proposed criteria have suggested that muscle dysmorphia be classified as a subcategory of body dysmorphic disorder, both the historical and clinical aspects of this syndrome are more consistent with its classification as an obsessive-compulsive disorder.