Can summer vacations promote vigorexia?

Summer vacations are a period of rest and disconnection from work for most people; however, there are those who, even during these days of free time, self-sabotage without realizing it and involuntarily, fueling a vicious circle of stress and personal insecurities that are further intensified by breaking with the routine and structure that the working day provided.

One of the most characteristic disorders that can emerge during the summer holidays is vigorexia , a mental disorder based on an obsession with gaining muscle volume in order to leave behind what is considered to be a physique that is too thin or poorly defined. Let's see how it relates to the typical experiences we usually live during this summer vacation break.

What is vigorexia?

Vigorexia is a psychological disorder that consists of an obsession with one's own physical image, which is perceived as a body that is too puny or thin . Due to this, people with vigorexia tend to eat looking for the intake of many calories to gain volume, and usually also combine this with excessive physical exercise.

Due to its characteristics, this alteration has come to be considered a kind of inverse anorexia , although it presents many qualitative differences with respect to it, and it is not so dangerous because it does not lead to malnutrition, but rather to malnutrition. However, it clearly affects both self-esteem and personal relationships as well as the way a person relates to food, which becomes problematic and generates stress due to the search for control over what is consumed.

Vigorexia usually affects mostly men between 18 and 35 years old, and both the promotion of new fitness lifestyles and the popularization of the habit of going to the gym to get strong among increasingly younger people could be precipitating the appearance of more and more cases of vigorexia.

How can the arrival of the holidays trigger a case of vigorexia?

There are many causes that can cause the appearance of a case of vigorexia, and these depend on each person in particular . On the other hand, summer vacations by themselves are not the cause of vigorexia, among other things because all psychopathology arises from a combination of personal and social factors. However, summer offers a context in which the trigger for this alteration arises very easily.

Below you will find a summary of the different ways in which the arrival of the summer holidays can reinforce or help trigger this alteration (along with other causes combined).

1. Social Media Influence

Social networks can be very useful tools to communicate with friends or to learn certain useful or curious knowledge; however, for many people it can cause certain complexes about their physique due to comparisons with other bodies .

During the summer holidays, social networks are filled with posts in which their users share photos of their summer retreats, usually in a swimsuit or with little clothing. In addition, images with more desirable content tend to receive more interactions, which increases their reach and overshadows the rest of the publications with non-regulatory bodies.

This makes it possible for many users to feel bad when seeing the sculptural bodies of both famous influencers and friends and acquaintances and assume that this is "the norm", which generally causes feelings of complex or inferiority that can trigger an eating disorder in general or a case of vigorexia in particular.

2. Insecurity with one's own body

In the same way, the vacation period is a season in which everyone wears less clothes on the street and leaves more of their body visible, which can enhance some complexes in some people who were already "dragging them". ” for months or years .

This insecurity with one's own body when going to the beach or participating in summer activities can also generate great discomfort in the person, which can often lead to the appearance of a case of vigorexia as a kind of defensive strategy that, Actually, it causes more problems than it solves.

3. Eager to impress

The desire to impress people you only see during this time of year, whether they are friends or family, can also often lead to an obsession with exercise and food that helps you get strong. In this case, the obsession to gain muscle mass does not stem so much from previous complexes with one's own body, but from an intense desire to stand out through physical appearance and earn the admiration or acceptance of the rest without having to apply social skills , something that In the long run, it makes those complexes appear due to the desire to get closer to an idealized version of that muscular “I”.

These two elements are essential in the appearance of a case of vigorexia, which is why it is so important to talk to a friend or family member who may be going through this process, especially when you are younger.

4. Obsessive need to be productive in free time

Another of the causes that can precipitate the appearance of a case of vigorexia is the obsessive need to use the extra free time that summer offers to exercise and take care of what you eat (during the rest of the year, working hours make it more complicated to have high control over diet). In other words, the indecision of what to do with free time gives rise to discomfort at the idea of ​​wasting those hours with nothing to do , something that leads to directing attention to one's own body at the idea of ​​getting in shape.

In addition to that, the mere fact of having more free time during the summer can also progressively lead to a greater obsession with getting stronger and gaining more muscle mass.

5. Extreme diets

Dieticians and nutritionists are well aware of the danger of miracle diets, especially if they are started or ended randomly and without professional supervision. And, at the same time, the beginning of summer and the weeks before it are a time of year when extreme solutions to get in shape are more publicized ; Exposure to these advertisements and publications feed complexes with one's physique.

This type of unscientific diet can also end up promoting a person's obsession with food and causing an eating disorder or a case of vigorexia and obsession with physical exercise.