Does weight lifting have negative psychological effect? In a new study, more than 10 per cent of the weightlifters who participated showed symptoms of a psychological disorder that led them to think that their body is “too small” or “insufficiently muscular.”

The disorder called “muscle dysmorphia” cause sufferers to experience a relentless drive to become more muscular, even if they are already more muscular than the average person. Hence, the psychological condition has been nicknamed as “reverse anorexia” or “manorexia.” The condition, first proposed in 1993, has yet to be fully accepted by health authorities.

Johanna Nieuwoudt, the author of the study, hopes her research could assist in the correct classification of “muscle dysmorphia” in the next edition of the American Psychiatric Association-published Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

"The condition can be harmful, especially when combined with steroid abuse," said Nieuwoudt, a PhD candidate with the School of Health and Human Sciences at Southern Cross University.

"There can be musculo-skeletal injuries, and people with the condition are more likely to continue to train when they are injured or ill. Their social life suffers and the quest to get bigger can become obsessive, with their relationship with their body overcoming all else."

The survey of 116 weightlifters in Northern New South Wales showed that young men were more likely to exhibit signs of muscle dysmorphia than older men. The same is true with those with larger biceps and those that used supplements.

Nieuwoudt agreed there was a fine line between being a driven bodybuilder or weightlifter and someone who had become obsessive to the extent of “muscle dysmorphia.” She notes that researchers are yet to agree whether to classify the condition as a “body dysmorphic disorder” or “an eating disorder.”

Source: Southern Cross University