Body Image Gay Men: When and How to Intervene - Psychiatry Advisor

Contents:

• WHY BODY IMAGE ISSU PERVA THE GAY COMMUNY
• GAY MEN AND BODY IMAGE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• BODY DYSMORPHIA CONTU TO BE A SER ISSUE AMONG GAY MEN
• GAY MEN AND BODY PERFECTN
• THE BODY IMAGE PROBLEM AND HOW ’S HURTG GAY MEN
• BODY IMAGE AND GAY MEN: ADAPTATN OF EMOTNALLY-FOCED FAY THERAPY FOR GAY CLIENTS WH NEGATIVE BODY IMAGE
• “NEVER REFLECTED ANYWHERE”: BODY IMAGE AMONG ETHNORACIALIZED GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• HIGHER RAT OF BODY DISSATISFACTN GAY MEN LEADG TO A RISE COSMETIC SURGERY : PLASTIC AND RENSTCTIVE SURGERY – GLOBAL OPEN
• BODY IMAGE GAY MEN: WHEN AND HOW TO INTERVENE

WHY BODY IMAGE ISSU PERVA THE GAY COMMUNY

Body image issu aren’t unique to bi or gay men, but toxic thoughts pertag to self-worth and physil re have bee dangeroly prevalent wh the MSM (men seekg men) muny. ”When I asked if any of my gay male followers had battled body image issu, someone rpond: “That’s lerally all of , surely. ” When agenda-settg gay men’s magaze Attu nducted a body survey 2017, 84% of people said they felt unr “tense prsure” to have a so-lled “good body.

Rearch published last year by Philip Joy and Matthew Numer om Dalhoie Universy found that “social mands placed upon gay men to eat healthily and achieve a perfect body are lked to anxiety and prsn and have ser mental health nsequenc. ”Borris Visokoborskis, a 33-year-old gay fns stctor, says some of his personal traer lleagu are now fully booked until the end of Febary. “Workg this dtry, I n tell you that lookg good is not enough any more for some gay guys who value their athetics and appearance, ” he says.

GAY MEN AND BODY IMAGE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

”Of urse, the social media era, our phon make easier than ever before to fall to the toxic trap of parg ourselv to other, more “fuckable” gay men. Instagram tends to get the most blame, but Lewis, a 29-year-old gay man who says his body “jt don’t feel good enough, ” argu that Twter n be even more triggerg.

“But when I’m out, I still get ments om other gay guys about my body, so sometim I feel like I have to keep workg on . Keir, a 33-year-old gay man, says he unrtook 18 months of unselg, partly to tackle body image issu, and reports that ’s been reasonably effective.

BODY DYSMORPHIA CONTU TO BE A SER ISSUE AMONG GAY MEN

Gay men experience eatg disorrs and body dysmorphia more than any other populatn except for heterosexual women.

To help unrstand the lk between gay culture and negative body image, eatg disorrs and body dysmorphia, we spoke to Carl Hovey, a psychologist and rearcher at the Soho and Fidi lotns of the Gay Therapy Center New York. He terviewed a llectn of gay men New York Cy, askg open end qutns like, “Can you talk to me a ltle about how you experience your body, both now and the past?

But what Carl found, was that the level of acceptance gay men found wh their muny was sentially lked to the acceptance they felt wh their own body. “One of the more surprisg elements that me out of the rearch is how often experienc of the body–more specifilly, whether or not an dividual felt his body was acceptable or unacceptable the marketplace of gay culture—was related to a feelg of cln or excln wh that culture, ” Carl said.

GAY MEN AND BODY PERFECTN

And wh so much of gay culture revolvg around sire, rather than some sort of cultural herage, gay men have found themselv a posn where they feel like they have to embody that sire–or else they won’t have a place wh the culture and muny. There is an unspoken expectatn wh gay culture: you mt be sirable at all tim, or else you won’t f to the cultural spac rerved for gay men. Carl went on to expla how this is te, not only for isolatg gay men om the larger queer muny, but actually om their own inty.

THE BODY IMAGE PROBLEM AND HOW ’S HURTG GAY MEN

People even talked about feelg alienated om themselv, as though if their body didn’t f a certa script, they weren’t even sure who they were as gay men. While people who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) experience body image ncerns ways that are generally siar to those who intify as heterosexual, their experience and relatnship wh their bodi are likely to differ specific ways.

Heterosexual men have been found to report higher levels of body appreciatn than gay and bisexual men (123, 124). Some rearch suggts that sexual mory men may be more likely to ternalise an appearance ial that is centred around lookg athletic (124) and that there may be a greater emphasis on physil appearance the gay muny, which n negatively affect body image (125) through prsure to match this ial.

One review of the rearch (126) found that gay men are more likely than their heterosexual unterparts to experience a sire to be th, which n sometim manift higher levels of eatg disorr symptoms.

BODY IMAGE AND GAY MEN: ADAPTATN OF EMOTNALLY-FOCED FAY THERAPY FOR GAY CLIENTS WH NEGATIVE BODY IMAGE

As the wir rearch, studi foced on gay, and bisexual men have found a nnectn between higher levels of body dissatisfactn, an creased likelihood of experiencg prsive symptoms and creased sexual anxiety and poorer sexual self-efficy (123). In our survey, a higher proportn of dividuals who intified as gay, lbian or bisexual reported feelgs of anxiety and prsn bee of their body image. Among adults who intified as gay, lbian, bisexual or other, 53% felt anx, and 56% felt prsed bee of their body image pared to one-third (33%) of the adults who intified as heterosexual.

“NEVER REFLECTED ANYWHERE”: BODY IMAGE AMONG ETHNORACIALIZED GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Siarly, our survey, one-third (33%) of adults who intified as gay, lbian, bisexual or other reported experiencg suicidal thoughts or feelgs bee of ncerns about their body image, pared to 11% of the adults who intified as heterosexual.

For young men who have sex wh men, one study found that ternalised negative attus towards homosexualy and sexual orientatn predicted overall body dissatisfactn, mculary, and body fat (134).

This was reflected our survey, where 40% of the adults who intified as gay, lbian, bisexual or other said they felt shame bee of their body image, pared to 18% of the heterosexual adults. Siarly, 54% of adults who intified as gay, lbian, bisexual or other felt their self-teem was negatively affected by their body image the past year, pared to 37% of the adults who intified as heterosexual.

HIGHER RAT OF BODY DISSATISFACTN GAY MEN LEADG TO A RISE COSMETIC SURGERY : PLASTIC AND RENSTCTIVE SURGERY – GLOBAL OPEN

2 percent of heterosexual men, but the number is far higher gay and bisexual fact, a study published 2020 the journal Body Image nducted surveys om 268 gay and bisexual teens and adult men and found BDD more than 49 percent of the study study attribut the high prevalence of BDD to the strs of livg as a sexual mory, which enpass a wi-range of anxieti, cludg the fear of rejectn, sexual orientatn ncealment, homophobia, bullyg, and threats of vlence. “The mory strs gay men live wh is a form of opprsn that leads to body dysmorphia and eatg disturbanc, ” says Jason Whel, PhD, a soclogist at Illois State Universy Normal. Reasons Why Body Dysmorphia Is PrevalentWhile a growg body of rearch and experts pot to the mory strs mol as a key culpr the surge of BDD among gay men, there are other Media Sets the Bar Too HighGay men often fd themselv wh an Adonis plex, explas Dr.

It also creat a space where people exprsg body posivy may be shamed and bullied for their not beg “gym-f, ” acrdg to a qualative study published May 2023 the journal Sexual and Relatnship Therapy that foced on the experienc of 10 gay men livg wh BDD. “Social media puts forward a very specific type of body for gay men, ” says Casey Gamboni, PhD, a profsor at The Fay Instute at Northwtern Universy and thor of the study. The study looked at the effect of 11 social media platforms over 2, 700 gay men and found that those who spent the most time on image-centric social media (thk Instagram) more likely to feel bad about their own mcl and to have an eatg Culture Is Harmg the CommunyIn many ways, gay culture self has led to the rise BDD sce is often characterized by a sire for youthfulns and a mcular physique, says Whel.

BODY IMAGE GAY MEN: WHEN AND HOW TO INTERVENE

Gamboni, examed BDD 10 gay men and found that 60 percent of them started to experience symptoms, such as anxiety over appearance, antisocial tennci, and a sire to hi om others, when they me out. And all the participants said their symptoms of secury about their body creased when they beme immersed gay male participants scribed a prsure to f to a perfect ial, and they felt strs that the muny that accepted them for beg a sexual mory would now shun them for their appearance.