A lot of people believe that boys and men cannot suffer from eating disorders. This is a huge misconception and it disheartens males to seek therapy. Induced starvation, purging, excessive exercise and binging is as harmful and life-threatening to a man as it is to a woman. Some professionals also cling to the idea that EDs are a “girl’s” disease and thus correct diagnosis of the disease might take longer. The longer it takes for the sufferer to get diagnosed, the more lethal the eating disorder becomes.
Billboards, fashion magazines, movie posters and other media sources all tend to feature man with “perfect” body image. Boys exposed to such imagery are influenced to achieve such definition until they spiral down to a full blown eating disorder. No, I am not insisting that people who workout, are athletic, eat good food or seek to take care of themselves or compete in physique competitions suffer from an eating disorder! I know of people who have to follow strict dietary regimens and workout routines in order to achieve a certain body composition in order to win a competition and I know of other men who exercise beyond the body’s tolerance, starve themselves or eat beyond fullness and have disordered thoughts.
The approach towards food and exercise is what defines a sufferer from a healthy average man. The feelings of guilt, punishment, low self-esteem and lack of self-worth are also experienced by the male sufferer. The destructive traits of an eating disorder haunt a male sufferer the exact way the same traits destroy a female sufferer.
Research shows that around 10-25% of the population which suffers from an eating disorder are males. Researchers also believe that a lot of male eating disorder cases are unknown. Why? As I already mentioned above, the male sufferer finds it more difficult to start attending therapy sessions and more often male ED cases are misdiagnosed. If you are a male and you believe you might be suffering from an eating disorder, please do not be afraid to ask for help. It is better to take action today than wait for the “right” moment because that moment might never arrive.