BUILDING MINDS NOT JUST MUSCLE
By Lorne David Opler
It ’ s the “ elephant in the room .” The boogeyman that people don ’ t want to talk about . No , it ’ s not steroids . No , It ’ s not testosterone . In fact , it has nothing to do with supplements at all . It ’ s mental illness – whether it ’ s depression , anxiety , eating disorders , addictions , bi-polar disorder , etc ., it ’ s a fact : Bodybuilders are at a higher risk for emotional disorders than the general population . And for a variety of reasons . For some , it ’ s because of the emotional impact of the extremely grueling effort it takes to get on stage . For some it ’ s the side effects of anabolic steroids . And for others its simply genetics – a genetically inherited predisposition to mental illness , which itself can be compounded by the pre-contest pressures of looking “ picture perfect ” on stage . But whatever the reason , the truth is , we don ’ t talk nearly enough , if at all , about our mental health in the bodybuilding community . And it ’ s high time we start . In fact , it ’ s OVER time we start .
There is no question that avoiding the subject hurts us all , not just those among us who live with mental illness , but even those who don ’ t . Because if everyone is afraid to talk about mental health , what does that say about our community as a whole ? If those in our community living with mental illness are too afraid to speak openly about our condition due to shame , embarrassment and fear of being judged by our weightlifting peers , then how supportive a community are we ? The only way for all of us in the bodybuilding community to tackle the epidemic of mental illness in Canada … the only way to eradicate the stigma of mental illness , whether we have never encountered a mental health episode ourselves , or whether we personally live with one ( or have lived with one ), is to talk about . Because how else will we ever overcome the stigma , how else will we ever be comfortable enough to support our fellow lifters living with mental illness if we as a community , are afraid to talk about it ?
So let ’ s talk about it . By starting with the facts . According to the Canadian Mental Health Association , in any given year , one in five Canadians ( 20 %) will experience a mental health or addiction episode ( 1 ). That means out of a total population of 38 million people , fully 7.6 million Canadians will struggle with a mental health or addiction issue in 2022 . And the pandemic has only made this situation worse . In a poll conducted in January 2022 by Nanos Research for CTV News , a combined 47 % of Canadians polled said their mental health has worsened or somewhat worsened due to the impact of coronavirus ( 2 ).
I am among that 47 %. And I know I am not alone in the bodybuilding community . I ’ ve struggled with depression and self-esteem issues since I was a little kid . A difficult family life set the stage for what would become a difficult childhood , adolescence and young adulthood . In fact , and not surprisingly , my depression served as the impetus to buy my first “ junior ” bodybuilding kit at a Canadian Tire store . There I was , at age 15 dragging that box full of plastic-coated concrete weights all the way home along a slush covered sidewalk one cold Toronto winter day 45 years ago . I was that determined to find a way to feel good about my teenage self in the face of the relentless bullying and marginalization not only by school peers … but even by my high school gym teacher . Muscle building , I felt , was one way to prove if not to anyone at school , then at least to myself , that I was not the cowardly pushover I had been labelled by classmates . From that point on , and to this day , weightlifting has become the most consistent , most predictable and most reliable antidote to my depressive illness . While the many anti-depressant medications I have been on over the years have met with varying degrees of success , nothing proved as consistently effective in managing my depression as weight training ; and without any of the nasty side effects I would sometimes experience from the meds I took .
Perhaps as an outgrowth of my decades long dedication to the iron game , the confidence I have gained over the years has also given me the strength to speak openly and candidly about living with depression . Because living with a mental illness is no different than having a physical illness . We don ’ t see people living with high blood pressure afraid to tell people about their condition . We don ’ t see people living with diabetes , or arthritis or heart disease embarrassed to talk about it . But we still feel ashamed to openly disclose that we may live with depression or chronic anxiety , or bi-polar , or anorexia , or bulimia or other eating disorders … or body image issues like body dysmorphia , muscle dysmorphia or “ bigorexia .” Or addiction .
As a body building community , we are a subset of the larger community around us . And just like society avoids talking about mental illness , so too does the body building community . And it ’ s time that stopped . We in the bodybuilding community , one that has a higher rate of mental health issues , can and SHOULD play a role in stamping out the stigma , and shunning the shame .
In the bodybuilding culture where it ’ s all about “ the image ” we create of ourselves to impress others , we
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