Eating Disorders and Anorexia in Men

Most people think of Anorexia in a tabloid sort of way. The latest female celebrity might (or might not) have anorexia... the article is usually accompanied by very unflattering photos in which you can count the star's ribs. This, in turn, encourages teenage girls to shed their pounds by not eating and, hopefully (in their minds), ending in a result that will have them as "beautiful" as those stars.

It's a grossly wrong perception, unfortunately - and very little is being done to change it.

Anorexia does not just happen to super models, stars and teenage girls. Something you may not know is that Anorexia is all about silence. You don't tell anyone you have it, no one really asks why you're so thin, and it ends in the highest fatality rates of any psychological disease. Twenty percent (of an estimated eight million people) of those diagnosed with Anorexia will die from it.

This puts men in a very perilous position. Ten percent of all diagnosed Anorexia cases are male. This number is probably much higher - men who are diagnosed with the disease are even more silent than the majority of those who have it. It hearkens back to the ideas that men should be strong, and therefore seldom sick. This is perpetuated by the misnomer that Anorexia (and eating disorders in general) is not necessarily thought of as a men's disease - and as such, there is very little information and help out there for the male anorexic.

Those who suffer from eating disorders are often surrounded by shame - shame of their bodies, shame that they are doing things against themselves (and continuing to do these things), and shame that they are not strong enough to get help. For men who suffer from eating disorders, however, this is heightened by the shame that it is often looked on as a disease only women can get.

Homosexual men do suffer from the disease more often than heterosexual men (in the gay male culture, there is often a focus on appearance, and the appearance of success, thus driving those who perceive themselves as "fat" to purge unwanted pounds in very unhealthy ways), heterosexual men still suffer from eating disorders.