Book contents
- The Body in the Mind
- The Body in the Mind
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Boxes
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Section 1 From Exercise to Addiction: An Introduction to the Phenomenon
- Chapter 1 Exercise Addiction
- Chapter 2 From Exercise to Addiction
- Chapter 3 The COVID-19 Pandemic
- Chapter 4 Excessive Exercise and Image- and Performance-Enhancing Drug Use Among Sports Disciplines, and the Role of Mind–Body Training
- Chapter 5 The Ideal of the Perfect Body
- Chapter 6 Exercise, Fitspiration, and the Role of Social Media
- Chapter 7 Eating Disorders and Over-Exercise
- Chapter 8 Exercise and the Use of Image- and Performance-Enhancing Drugs within the Gym Environment
- Chapter 9 Bodybuilding, Exercise, and Image- and Performance-Enhancing Drug Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Chapter 10 How to Treat Exercise Addiction
- Section 2 Reaching the Extreme with Exercise: A Collection of Clinical Case Studies
- Section 3 Exploring the Motivations Behind Exercise Addiction
- Index
- References
Chapter 5 - The Ideal of the Perfect Body
Appearance Anxiety, Excessive Exercising, and Use of Image- and Performance-Enhancing Drugs
from Section 1 - From Exercise to Addiction: An Introduction to the Phenomenon
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 March 2023
- The Body in the Mind
- The Body in the Mind
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Boxes
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Section 1 From Exercise to Addiction: An Introduction to the Phenomenon
- Chapter 1 Exercise Addiction
- Chapter 2 From Exercise to Addiction
- Chapter 3 The COVID-19 Pandemic
- Chapter 4 Excessive Exercise and Image- and Performance-Enhancing Drug Use Among Sports Disciplines, and the Role of Mind–Body Training
- Chapter 5 The Ideal of the Perfect Body
- Chapter 6 Exercise, Fitspiration, and the Role of Social Media
- Chapter 7 Eating Disorders and Over-Exercise
- Chapter 8 Exercise and the Use of Image- and Performance-Enhancing Drugs within the Gym Environment
- Chapter 9 Bodybuilding, Exercise, and Image- and Performance-Enhancing Drug Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Chapter 10 How to Treat Exercise Addiction
- Section 2 Reaching the Extreme with Exercise: A Collection of Clinical Case Studies
- Section 3 Exploring the Motivations Behind Exercise Addiction
- Index
- References
Summary
Sociocultural theories of body image propose that different societies have different conceptions of the ideal body shape. Within contemporary Westernized cultures, advertisements, the Internet, and social media networks promote particular assumptions about what constitutes the ‘ideal’ body, and thus exert a strong social pressure to achieve such a body shape. Individuals go to great lengths to achieve and maintain a body image that corresponds to these archetypes of ‘beauty’, which are reinforced as having a superior social value. Such social ideals of beauty are often entirely unrealistic, and can result in body dissatisfaction, appearance anxiety, body image disorder, low self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. Attempts to attain the ideal body can lead to excessive behaviours, such as compulsive exercising, the use of image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs), and eating disorders. This chapter focuses on excessive exercising and the use of IPEDs, and how these behaviours relate to distress about body image.
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- The Body in the MindExercise Addiction, Body Image and the Use of Enhancement Drugs, pp. 77 - 92Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023