Permarexia and Adonis Complex

Jose Angel Favela

Permarexia and Adonis Complex are conditions that are closely related to bigorexia, they can contribute to the development of bigorexia . These conditions are caused by the victim's insecurities, and created by the society's standards of beauty.

Permarexia is the condition that one finds himself trying to maintain a weight level she considers to enhance her acceptable body image. Permarexia is a permanent state of diet that in extreme cases maintains just enough sustenance to the human body to maintain a waif like appearance.
(http://www.permarexia.com/)

Permarexia is more common in women, especially in models and artists. In attempt to be well seen socially, they become obsessed with diet and more than obsessed with body image. Although it is more common in women, permarexia can also be shown in men, mainly in models.

Dieting for body image not only effects woman but also men, according to U.K. newspapers the number of men being treated for anorexia has increased by 67% in the last five years.
(permarexia.blogspot.com)

Permarexia can be a pre-symptom of anorexia, these people became so obssesed with diet, to the point that they eat just enough food to keep themselves alive. Permarexia can cause malnutrition and anemia.
Adonis Complex can be used as a synonym of bigorexia, since it is a complication of physical and mental problems, with the difference being that adonis complex is just shown in men.

The Adonis complex is a collection of male bodyimage problems that can include compulsive weightlifting and exercising, steroid abuse, eating disorders, and full-blownbody dysmorphic disorder.
(Harrison G. Pope, M.D)1

Unlike permarexia, where the person's goal is to look thinner, the people with adonis complex symptoms overexercise and consume steroids in order to look more masculine. People with this disease, think that they are not strong enough, that people will laugh about their appearance, and sometimes they do not want to show themselves to the world, afraid of what the people will say about them.

Interspersed with results from numerous studies are stories of men such as Eke Kevin, a fit, 230-pound bodybuilder who won'tgo outside for fear he looks too small, and Vince, a massive high school senior who is currently on a treatment of daily injections of steroid formulas including Equipoise, a product intended only for horses.
(psychservices.psychiatryonline.org)

Whether it is extreme dieting or overexercise, as a famous phrase says, everything in excess is bad. These two diseases can only be cured by psychological treatment, since they are constantly fed by the traumas and insecurities that people have.

1-psychservices.psychiatryonline.org
2-www.permarexia.com
3-permarexia.blogspot.com