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  • #1

    Male eating disorders

    I just talked to a good friend of mine who has been notably absent from all online activities for a couple of months now. It turns out he's been in an intensive in-patient treatment for an eating disorder (he didn't give specific of what his troubles have been).

    I dated a couple of wrestlers who both weighed themselves paranoidly every day. One would go on a 15-mile run if he was up on the scale a little, but I'm not sure he had a diagnosable eating disorder.

    I don't have much experience with full-blown eating disorders, though. Is the impetus the same for men and women, or wildly different? Any advice on helping him through this difficult time?
    "You know, I was looking at your shirt and your scarf and I was thinking that if you had leaned over, I could have seen everything." ~Trial Ad Judge
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  • #2
    Male eating disorders are becoming more prevelant then they once were. This seems to coincide with a shift to an emphasis on the male physique.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by I.J. Reilly View Post
      Male eating disorders are becoming more prevelant then they once were. This seems to coincide with a shift to an emphasis on the male physique.
      a shift from what?

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Babs View Post
        a shift from what?
        Sorry, a shift from less emphasis to more. As evidence to my claim, I submit the rise of the magazine dedicated to the male body (Men's Health comes to mind, as do others), increased gym membership among the male population, and the overall greater exposure of the male body on television and in movies. And I'm talking about a 20 year trend here that has accelerated in the last 10 years. Also, I submit Niku and DDD as evidence to my claim

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        • #5
          Originally posted by I.J. Reilly View Post
          Sorry, a shift from less emphasis to more. As evidence to my claim, I submit the rise of the magazine dedicated to the male body (Men's Health comes to mind, as do others), increased gym membership among the male population, and the overall greater exposure of the male body on television and in movies. And I'm talking about a 20 year trend here that has accelerated in the last 10 years. Also, I submit Niku and DDD as evidence to my claim
          I've been told that eating/body dysmorphic disorders among males are growing much faster at present than for females. As with any statistic, there could be a number of explanatory variables, including even something as simple as we finally started to pay attention and count eating problems among men instead of assuming it was a female-only problem. However, based on my own small experience, I have no reason to doubt it. The prevalance of these disorders and related problems is particularly salient in the gay male population

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          • #6
            If you'll forgive the slight tangent here, this reminds me of my favorite response to a question in Gospel Doctrine class:
            Class member: What mortal age will our bodies correspond to when we are resurrected? Will we have teen-age bodies or young adult bodies?

            Instructor: I don't know, but I hope it's like my body just before my metabolism started slowing down.
            “There is a great deal of difference in believing something still, and believing it again.”
            ― W.H. Auden

            "God made the angels to show His splendour - as He made animals for innocence and plants for their simplicity. But men and women He made to serve Him wittily, in the tangle of their minds."
            -- Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons

            "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
            --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Mrs. Funk View Post
              Any advice on helping him through this difficult time?
              when you interact with him, just find implicit ways to reinforce that his worth is not superficial. Talk to him about his career and his family, or yours; but steer clear of discussion about fitness/weight goals (yours or his) and so on.

              You probably realize this, but your friend doesn't need to hear "you look fine just the way you are"; he needs a sense that his friends value him for something else entirely.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Babs View Post
                when you interact with him, just find implicit ways to reinforce that his worth is not superficial. Talk to him about his career and his family, or yours; but steer clear of discussion about fitness/weight goals (yours or his) and so on.

                You probably realize this, but your friend doesn't need to hear "you look fine just the way you are"; he needs a sense that his friends value him for something else entirely.
                Right! We've been talking about his university goals (currently working on his PhD in bio-techno-gizomo-weirdness) and other accomplishments. I'm trying to boost him up in non-physique related ways. It's harding finding out how much of a problem he had/has that I somehow totally missed...
                "You know, I was looking at your shirt and your scarf and I was thinking that if you had leaned over, I could have seen everything." ~Trial Ad Judge

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Mrs. Funk View Post
                  It's hard finding out how much of a problem he had/has that I somehow totally missed...
                  It always is. My aunt moved out this last weekend, ending a 30-year marriage. We had no idea she was so unhappy. Somehow we can't help but feel like we failed her...

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