How these men are overcoming social media fuelled body image, mental health challenges
Global News
Body dysmorphic disorder results in people having negative thoughts about their bodies. Men can spend hours of their day analyzing their bodies, trying to make improvements.
Every time Abdullah Barez opens his Instagram and scrolls through his feed, he feels a sense of anxiety to improve his already-clean diet, or to go harder in the gym. Whatever he’s doing is just not enough.
“There’s this unrealistic expectation of having this six-pack, washboard abs and whatnot. Even a part of me wants it and social media kind of echoes me to have that,” he said.
Social media’s impact on how Barez feels about himself is not unique.
A 2020 study done by a researcher at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania found men who were exposed to muscular figures on Instagram immediately experienced “lower appearance satisfaction, weight satisfaction, and more social comparison compared to the neutral images.”
Barez admits to having been obsessed with how his body looked and while he has not been diagnosed, he thinks he checked off all the boxes for body dysmorphia.
Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health problem that results in people having negative thoughts about their bodies and spending hours analyzing their bodies, trying to make improvements.
“The average man is comparing himself to a hyper-muscular, very lean body type and is going to make him feel worse about his own body because he does not live up to that ideal,” said Jennifer Mills, an associate professor of clinical psychology at York University said of the condition.
“That ideal could be incredibly unattainable for the average person, it requires a ton of time and discipline and access to exercise and nutrition that most men don’t have.”
Some experts say that a cyberwar through 'proxies' may be the next stage of the Iran war, with civilian infrastructure also coming under threat.
The study is being billed by the university as "the first to study a wide range of factors which link ADHD symptoms and mental ill health symptoms over time."
The group says MAGA Energy hasn't paid its lease for three years, and therefore the company is no longer allowed on their land in Edmonton.
The analysis by the Canadian Climate Institute says oilsands producers will pay an average of about 50 cents per oil barrel, if the minimum carbon price rises to $130 per tonne.
Between November 29 and February 27, authorities recorded 406 outbreaks of bird flu in domestic birds in 32 European countries and 2,108 outbreaks in wild birds, they said.
Dr. Michael Domeier, director of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, told Global News that they tag the adult females as they are the most interesting.
Regina’s recycling contamination is currently triple the limit and city is urging resident to change sorting habits now to avoid citywide fines and higher resident fees.
The study found that higher ultra-processed food intake at age three years was associated with adverse behavioural and emotional symptoms at age five years.
Edmonton's single-use waste rules were controversial and unpopular when introduced in 2023 — but new data shows the changes are having the intended effect of reducing garbage.
Carney's speech to Australia's parliament highlighted a soon-to-launch Canadian low earth orbit satellite network that experts say could soon compete with Elon Musk's Starlink.
The Pentagon said in a statement Thursday that it has “officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately.”
Opioid overdose deaths in Canada are falling, but there's growing concerns on a certain veterinary tranquilizer being cut into fentanyl and other opioids.
The product is being recalled in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan due to 'undeclared almonds' being found.