The Adonis Complex: How to Identify, Treat and Prevent Body Obsession in Men and Boys

Weightlifting and exercise compulsions: Their quest for a more muscular body can become so single-minded that men often sacrifice relationships and career goals and may even stunt their emotional and physical development.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Unlike healthy men, those with body image problems have no idea how they really look — and obsessively try to fix flaws that others don't notice. Boys as young as six or eight report body dissatisfaction, and as a result many suffer loss of self-esteem or depression.

Eating disorders: Several millionmen have suffered from compulsive binge eating or from anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Countless others with milder forms of eating disorders diet and worry about being fat even when they actually look just fine.

Steroid abuse: Trying to achieve increasingly unrealistic physical ideals, more than a million men — including a large number of teenagers — are abusing steroids. Millions more are buying billions of dollars' worth of "muscle-building" food supplements and diet aids.

Creating a down-to-earth program for change, the authors introduce two original diagnostic tools. The first, a simple thirteen-question quiz, helps readers identify the extent of their body image concerns. The second, the Body Image Test, helps readers learn how they perceive their bodies and how they think others see them. Using the compelling and insightful stories of many boys and men, the authors address a wide range of topics, from coping with sex and intimacy problems and difficulties at work, to low self-esteem and shame. They also explain how to seek medication treatment and specialized forms of therapy for more extreme cases. With this book, men suffering from the Adonis Complex will have the power to change their lives.