How much does social media affect those suffering from bigorexia?
Bigorexia is now available on all digital platforms. Click here to order your digital copy! In this clip, doctors, trainers, and experts detail how social media has increased cases of Bigorexia and in some cases made the cases much more severe.
At its core, bigorexia is a psychiatric disorder that makes an individual warp the reality of their body. When a person suffering from bigorexia looks in the mirror, they don’t see the truth. They don’t see the impressive muscle and mass. Instead, they see someone too small. Not only that, but a person suffering from bigorexia equates being small with being worthless. This can lead to depression.
Needless to day, social media has certainly increased the number of muscle dysmorphia cases and also made some cases more severe. Instead of looking into the mirror, people can post images of themselves and publish them out to the world. The individual can then look at those images of his or herself over and over. At the same time, others are looking and validating their behavior with likes and comments.
This sets up a sort of reward system for people who use social media. The more they post something their audience wants, the more “rewards” they get in the form or likes and comments. For those who suffer from bigorexia, this can validate unhealthy behavior. It can also take away validation if a person gets less likes than usual. This can cause them to feel more inadequate about their size. This then puts more pressure on a person to look big. It’s a cycle. It’s one that already existed before the internet. The internet has simply made it worse.
In the clip above from Bigorexia, we sat down with a variety of bodybuilding experts, sports coaches, and specialized doctors to discuss how social media has affected those who suffer from bigorexia. Almost universally, each person we spoke to believed that social media made muscle dysmorphia worse. The vanity inherently built into apps like Instagram promote self-conscious behavior. This is true for anyone. It’s even worse for those who deal with mental disorders.
Of course, social media is not the single culprit or cause for bigorexia as a whole. There are a variety of factors that come into play. Bigorexia the film explores all angles through the eyes of six individuals from different walks of life. Social media is just one piece of the puzzle – but you can discover more about this often hidden psychiatric disorder by watching the film upon its release.
Bigorexia is now available on all major digital platforms. Click here or the banner below to get your digital copy today!
