Chinese Doctor Suggests Women View Muscular Men to Relieve Stress

A Chinese doctor from Shenzhen has sparked widespread discussion on social media with an unusual recommendation: women, he says, can reduce stress and mental fatigue by regularly looking at muscular men.

According to the doctor, visual contact with aesthetically pleasing male physiques may trigger a dopamine response — the brain’s “pleasure chemical” — which in turn can alleviate symptoms of anxiety, exhaustion, and irritability. He emphasized that the recommendation was not romantic or sexual in nature, but rather rooted in neuropsychological stimulation.

“Avoid falling in love too often. Watch more muscular men instead,” he said in the clip.

The post quickly went viral across Chinese platforms like Weibo and WeChat, igniting a mix of humorous memes and heated debate. While some users embraced the idea playfully, others criticized it as sexist or reductive in its approach to women’s mental health.

Some psychologists have cautiously acknowledged that positive visual stimuli can indeed reduce stress in the short term. However, they stress that such methods are not substitutes for professional therapy or medical treatment in cases of serious psychological distress.

The doctor has not clarified whether he plans to further research his hypothesis or develop a clinical framework based on the concept.

Sources:
Moneycontrol, South China Morning Post, Weibo discussions