Muscle dysmorphia

Scott is a principal research fellow in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he leads the physical appearance research team.

Scott's research covers body image, muscle dysmorphia, eating disorders, anabolic steroid use, cosmetic procedures, weight and appearance stigma, and the role of social media algorithms.

He's held research fellowships since 2013 and has attracted around $4 million in competitive funding research, including from the NHMRC, the Medical Research Future Fund and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Scott's received 14 national and international research awards, including the Association for Psychological Sciences Rising Star Award and the Victorian Young Tall Poppy of the Year, which is a really amazing name for a reward, being a tall poppy.

I'm really happy with you.

And, you know, there's a period where it's all joy and gladness.

It is an unfortunate hallmark of eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia that when someone does get into eating the gym or combines it with a diet and they do it successfully for a period of time that absent any reason to think that this could be problematic people are generally quite celebratory of it and in one sense which is the most charitable sense there is a celebratory aspect to any person who sets a goal for themselves and undertakes it successfully and does it Dieting, being in the gym, any hobby that takes commitment and effort is worthy of positive regard if it's done for the right reasons and leaves the person happier at the end of it.

Of course, in the context of eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia, it tends not to.

Amazing.

Bridget Jones and Bigorexia.

To describe muscle dysphoria when people start, like, getting jacked on the

rules and stuff.

I think the dependence on steroids And these substances, it's a psychological thing.

There's a phenomenon in bodybuilding called bigorexia.

You know what anorexia is? Bigorexia is I can't get big enough.

I still look small.

I look in the mirror.

I am an associate professor at the Factor Inventage Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto.

And I just published a study looking at muscle dysmorphia symptoms and sexual functioning among boys and men.

What would you say, Kyle, is the chief conclusion of that study?

I think the most important kind of takeaway, high level takeaway of this study is really that, you know, boys and young men, these are sexually active boys and young men, so they've had sex in their lifetime.

Those who experienced symptoms of muscle dysmorphia are more likely to experience sexual difficulties.

So whether that be just lack of enjoyment in sex or maybe erectile dysfunction, or premature ejaculation, things of that nature.

So it really just shows us that muscle dysmorphia and body image concerns among this population are connected with overall aspects of health and well-being.

And how did you find this out? What did you do in the experiment? So this is a large study that we conducted in the US and Canada among about 1,500 boys and young men.