The talk about eating disorders first appeared in the 1600’s when there was mention of a nervous consumption in a male patient. Later on, there was mention and record of other male patients struggling with anorexia nervosa.
As sad as it may sound but until the 1970’s there has been no mention of such eating disorders. Whenever the topic of eating disorder appears, the thoughts automatically go to this condition being about women or this issue will only make sense for women. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Research does prove that men also are affected by this condition. According to recent statistics, one in three people in the male population struggle with this issue. Inorder to understand the gravity of this, it is important to debunk some myths.
The first myth that is prevalent is the lack of recognition of eating disorder among men. There is a natural change and shift in the dialogue of eating disorders, there is a tendency to think of it as pertaining to the women folk only. This leads to another problem here, the family members of the individual There is however a renewed focus on this population group in recent times. Men do go through some sort of eating disorder at some point in their lives.
Another myth that is associated with this condition is the stigma that men do not need help for this issue. The scene in the medical side is that professional help is restricted and often not offered to men. There is a strong feminine branding with this condition therefore men who appear with this issue are not taken seriously. There is very limited information or research done with eating disorders related to men, however, now the whole situation around this condition is changing. This also has another angle presenting itself in terms of symptoms and the look of an eating disorder with relation to male are different. What ever the case may be the condition is real with the male population.
The third myth with regards to eating disorders in the male population is that men are stronger and this doesn’t affect the male population. It is important to look at this condition with the aspect of personality type rather than the different sexes. Those who have had some experiences in the past with family members being harsh or critical have developed a certain fear when it comes to food.
Consequently, all of this is looked at with a female bias which makes the treatment even more difficult. It is put aside with the contention that it is a female issue, men don’t need to be addressed or made aware of this issue. However, this is far from the truth. Research and statistics speak otherwise.
This article just covers three of the myths that pertain to this topic. This awareness is important so that men too would be given importance and the right treatment would reach them in time.
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