Looksmaxxing can be toxic for boys and young men. Here's what parents need to know. Seen through an accurate clinical lens, looksmaxxing behaviors clearly resemble potential symptoms of eating disorders and body dysmorphia.
What is Looksmaxxing?
Looksmaxxing involves punishing regimens of facial exercises, intentional starvation, and even reshaping the jawline or cheekbones by smashing them with a hammer or chisel. These extreme behaviors aim to maximize one's appearance at all costs. The trend has attracted a massive following of mostly teenage boys and young men on social media, moving from niche to mainstream since trending on TikTok in the early 2020s.
Media Coverage and Misogyny
Much of the media coverage has focused on cultural aspects, such as the misogynist ideology behind the trend and its implications for masculinity. Some looksmaxxers with hundreds of thousands of followers on platforms like TikTok and Kick have achieved pop-culture status. However, the well-being of participants has been largely overlooked.
Clinical Perspective
From a mental health professional's viewpoint, looksmaxxing behaviors suspiciously mirror symptoms of eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder. These conditions are particularly harmful to young people navigating identity, desires, and relationships, compounded by social media pressures.
Historical Parallels
The looksmaxxing trend repeats troubling history. In the 2000s, similar ideologies were embraced by young women on Tumblr and MySpace, where pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia communities thrived. Mainstream media covered these with concern, leading to research and eventually platform policies banning such content. By 2012, Tumblr implemented a policy against pro-eating disorder content, and today, most platforms have guidelines to prevent such communities, directing users to resources.
Gender Disparity
Despite widespread recognition of harm, looksmaxxing has not been addressed by platform policies. Instead, prominent looksmaxxers are treated as internet celebrities. The language used differs: "pro-ED" directly references mental health disorders, while looksmaxxing is positioned as goal-oriented self-improvement. The major difference is gender: looksmaxxing targets young men, while pro-ED culture centered on young women.
Research estimates that 1 in 3 people with eating disorders are male, yet the traditional view persists that these are female illnesses. A 2025 analysis found that obsession with thinness is still considered the hallmark, though it primarily captures female cases. Boys and men are more likely to fixate on leanness—achieving an ideal muscle-to-fat ratio. Clinical screenings often fail to account for these differences, leaving parents, teachers, and media ill-equipped.
Clinical Signs
Looksmaxxing behaviors resemble symptoms of eating disorders and body dysmorphia, starting with intense fixation on physical flaws and prioritizing appearance above all else. This leads to compulsions—behaviors that feel impossible to resist—fueled by obsessive thoughts, interfering with normal life. For example, wearing makeup or shoe lifts is not inherently bad, but being unable to leave the house without them indicates a problem. Similarly, diet and exercise can be healthy, but abusing amphetamines to suppress appetite is dangerous and points to mental health issues.
Left untreated, body dysmorphia and eating disorders can have lifelong implications, including heart problems, lasting skin changes, gastrointestinal complications, depression, and suicide. Early detection and intervention are key.
Call to Action
How society frames a problem shapes its response. The precedent set by responses to pro-ED internet culture in the 2010s can guide us. Recognizing looksmaxxing as a clinical issue could help researchers understand how these disorders manifest differently in boys and young men, push social media companies to create guidelines, help parents recognize warning signs, and connect struggling individuals to care.
If you or someone you know needs help, search the directory at the National Eating Disorders Association or HeadsUpGuys. In crisis? Call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or text HELLO to 741741. Both services are free, available 24/7, and confidential. International readers can use helplines listed by Psychology Today or speak to a healthcare professional.
