38121 Mens Body Image Disorders: Etiology, Assessment, and Treatment

Course overview

Focuses on body image disorders in men, including factors that may influence the development of the disorders, methods of assessing body image concerns among men, evaluation of concerns of assessment methods, and approaches to treating mens body image issues. In the past, body image and eating disorders have been largely characterized as a female problem while men have been stigmatized for coming forward, or they are often unaware that they may have an eating or body image disorder. In the United States, approximately 10 million men will suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some point in their life. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America suggests that about one percent of the population in the United States has body dysmorphia, but men and boys with the disorder often have very different symptoms than females and may require specific treatment plans. Eating and body image disorders place individuals at risk for multiple consequences, such as mental health issues, overtraining syndrome, and supplement or steroid overuse. These disorders often begin during adolescence, and healthcare providers may fail to assess or diagnose these conditions in males. This program discusses factors that may influence the development of body image disorders among men, methods of assessing body image concerns among men and concerns with some of those methods; and approaches to treating mens body image concerns.