A recent Australian study shows that social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are fueling young men with an unhealthy and often unrealistic obsession with lean physiques.
According to the study, these young men see themselves as small and weak, even though they're fit. It's called muscle dysmorphia, a type of body dysmorphia.
Jon Lim, a firefighter in Encinitas, said don't believe everything you see online.
"(Social media fitness influencers) take a hundred pictures to post that one perfect one," he said. "What they see is that Instagram model, the guy in the gym that’s on whatever stuff he’s on looking all jacked. They want to implement that. They want to compare themselves to that image. And that’s where this whole mental illness thing begins.”
Previous body dysmorphia studies have largely focused on young women. This is one of the few that looks at the effect on young men.
"It is interesting to see when they're looking at the image of themselves, what they perceive they need to work on, and they are, in fact, quite healthy and quite fit,” said Rome Bundoc, a trainer and gym owner.
Bundoc owns The Camp Transformation Center, San Marcos. While trainers are not qualified to diagnose body dysmorphic disorder, he said he can help his clients by discussing their long-term and short-term goals.
"That's a good cue for us to understand if this is potentially an issue," Bundoc said. "When we understand their goals, we can then start addressing what sort of realistic within the realm of what they're trying to accomplish, and start making more reasonable steps to them for them to approach it."
The study shows that young men who seek validation through comments and likes are more likely to experience body dysmorphia.
Social media is giving young people a curated, unrealistic view of the world, said Andrew Spieldenner, a communications professor at California State University, San Marcos.
"It's really transformed the ability (of) the generation coming up ... to interact with each other," he said. "It's affected their self-esteem. There's a greater need for external validation.”
The study’s authors said a way to combat body dysmorphia is to unplug from social media and to invest more in mental health initiatives for men.
Lim said taking care of mental health is just as important as your physical health.
"So put as much time into your mental health as you do your physical health in the gym," he said. "Whether that be going on walks, journaling, talking to a therapist, having just, you know, a good core group of friends that's equally as important as your physical working out, bench press, all that stuff."
