Whether you are watching from the sidelines, flipping through
a newspaper or right in with the action, sports are a part of
every day life.
Associated with athletics are muscular body images. Working
out on a regular basis is healthy, as long as you don't take
it too far. In recent years, many men and women have identified
with a disorder called muscle dysmorphia.
Muscle dysmorphia is said to be the reverse form of anorexia
nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is when a person diets until they are
severely underweight. With muscle dysmorphia, a person will see
him or herself as out of shape, even if they are a body builder
or accomplished athlete. People with muscle dysmorphia are so
preoccupied with working out that they will put off social engagements
and careers so that they can go to the gym for hours every day.
In many cases, muscle dysmorphia leads to the use of steroids
to build bigger muscles. Steroids trick the body into thinking
that testosterone is being produced. When the body senses an
excess of testosterone, it shuts down bodily functions involving
testosterone like bone growth. This causes the ends of bones
to fuse together and stop growing, which results in stunted growth.
Steroids were originally developed in the 1930's to rebuild and
prevent the breakdown of body tissues from disease.
Use of steroids by female athletes has caused the women to
develop so many male characteristics that they had to have chromosome
tests to prove that they were female. Also, steroid use has caused
males to develop such large prostate glands that they needed
a tube inserted so that they could urinate. Steroids are often
manufactured in motels and warehouses and then smuggled into
Canada and the United States. The amount, strength and purity
of steroids are not regulated. Therefore, it is almost impossible
for the user to know how much and what exactly they are taking.
Although there are many harmful affects from steroids, there
are many possible reasons why young people are resorting to using
them. The main reason is body image. With the way our world is
today, many young men feel they need to look strong and muscular
in order to fit in or be a "real man." Also, athletic
activities, especially body building, stress muscular development.
In sports competitions, there is often so much pressure to win
that people resort to the use of steroids so that they don't
let down their team or their fans.
When it comes to sport competitions, remember that it's not
just about winning. It's about going out, having a good time
and trying your best. If you take drugs to enhance your performance,
you aren't really enhancing your performance --you are cheating
your way out. Sports aren't just about how tough you are or how
big of muscles you have, they are about how hard you try and
whether you can beat your own records.
We need to remember that how our body looks is not as important
as how our mind thinks. Watching television shows and reading
magazines causes us to think twice about body image because they
contain mainly pictures of skinny, pretty females and strong,
muscular males. We are so caught up in the image that the media
portrays that we often forget what's important. Remember the
saying: "Beauty is only skin deep." |