Rise in men suffering from eating disorders, say GPs

• Lan wrote on 2011-07-13 22:55

  The number of men suffering from eating disorders is rising, says the Royal College of General Practitioners.
  
  It says it wants doctors to be more aware of the problem because it is usually seen as a female issue.
  
  "If doctors see a young man who is thin they are more likely to think that he is depressed," a spokesperson said.
  
  The NHS says there's been a 66% increase in hospital admissions in England for male eating disorders over the last 10 years.
  Diagnosis
  
  The charity beat estimates that 1.6 million people in the UK have an eating disorder and it is thought that one in five sufferers is male.
  
  The Department of Health does not keep records which show exactly how many sufferers there are in England.
  It only keeps records of hospital admissions, so it can be hard to judge the scale of the problem.
  
  That could be down to the diagnosis methods, which are predominantly based around females, an approach the Royal College of General Practitioners also stresses needs change.
  
  GP Claire Gerada says that the rise in male eating disorders is because image has become more of an issue.
  
  "Men are much more aware of their bodies, they are much more into dieting and how they look," she said.
  
  She is also concerned that these issues can develop for young men while they are at university.
  
  Get advice on eating disorders from Radio 1's Surgery
  'Took control'
  
  Ben Porter, 20, from Kent, has suffered with anorexia and bulimia since the age of 14.
  
  "I had the usual anxieties about body image," he said.
  
  "I just felt very inadequate about the way that I looked and felt I wasn't fitting in at school."
  
  When he finally went to his GP, he said he felt they were only concerned with the physical health issues rather than the psychological aspect of his disease.
  
  Ben, who is 5ft 10in (1.8m), said things became serious when he went down to seven stone.
  
  He said: "I fell in to a cycle that continued until it became unbearable for everybody.
  
  "I didn't realise what I was doing to myself and was abusive to my body at the time. The point was to look good and pursue a perfect image but I was doing the opposite."
  
  Ben was put on an NHS waiting list but when his situation became desperate, he went for private treatment.
  
  He is now showing signs of improvement and has reached one of his targets, which is to eat chips for the first time in five years.
  
  Ben says he would like schools to address the issue and for them to teach body confidence to boys as well as girls.
  
  "Male anorexia and male eating disorders are a severe problem and it needs to be addressed as not just being a female disorder but something that can affect anybody," he said.

  
  
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/14051772
• Cynic wrote on 2011-07-13 23:49
  Not gunna lie; I would have expected men to worry more about being buff than being twigs. Unless they all happen to be feminine men .-. I don't mean to sound sexist, but I can't imagine how they would get the thought into their minds that they need to be thin, you know? There aren't exactly a lot of stereotypes that shown men as thin. (Unless you count non-straight/generic men)
  
  Ah well. Ya' learn somethin' new every day.
• Conor wrote on 2011-07-13 23:53

  Quote from Cynic;511169:

  Not gunna lie; I would have expected men to worry more about being buff than being twigs. Unless they all happen to be feminine men .-. I don't mean to sound sexist, but I can't imagine how they would get the thought into their minds that they need to be thin, you know? There aren't exactly a lot of stereotypes that shown men as thin. (Unless you count non-straight/generic men)
  
  Ah well. Ya' learn somethin' new every day.

  
  I do agree with you, but I could imagine that they would see skinny better than being fat, and would resort to being skinny since building muscle takes work.
• Cynic wrote on 2011-07-13 23:58
  I understand that much, it just surprises me a bit. Women were usually always the ones told to be small, petite and thin, whall men are supposedly muscle-y, big, all that jazz.
  
  I don't doubt that those stereotypes have changed over time-- but yeah xD still caught me off guard. I feel bad for them, though. I have horrid stomach problems that often result in me being unable to eat and therefore I get hunger pains and ulcer-like symptoms, so I can only imagine how it feels to /force/ yourself to feel like that every waking moment just to achieve your "ideal" body type.
  
  Man. I could never do something like that. Ever. It really is unbearable.
  Recovering from it is hard, too.. getting the body to accept food again without making you feel sick is. Ugh.
  
  PEOPLE Y U WILLINGLY DO THIS ):
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2011-07-14 02:14
  *looks at my twiggy self*
  
  I do eat, not as much as I used to though but I eat enough to keep going and do have a big lunch everyday and breakfast everyday as well.
  
  Interesting how more men are getting these eating disorders though.
• Chillax wrote on 2011-07-14 02:22
  I guess women in the UK have different preferences.
• Jarvan IV wrote on 2011-07-14 02:32
  i'm probably gonna be one of those chubby managers that make you go, COME ON BAWS, TAKE A WALK SHAKE OFF THE WEIGHT
• Loopster wrote on 2011-07-16 21:34

  Quote from Cynic;511169:

  Not gunna lie; I would have expected men to worry more about being buff than being twigs. Unless they all happen to be feminine men .-. I don't mean to sound sexist, but I can't imagine how they would get the thought into their minds that they need to be thin, you know? There aren't exactly a lot of stereotypes that shown men as thin. (Unless you count non-straight/generic men)
  
  Ah well. Ya' learn somethin' new every day.

  
  
  Stereotypes can easily ruin someone's life, imagine a girl that's 15, holding a baby, most would look down upon her, thinking "S***" or "W****" not knowing, that when she was 13 she was a victim, and was pregnant against her will. Then firstly, that happening to her is bad enough, but then people looking down upon her for something against her will, it's not helping.
• Cynic wrote on 2011-07-17 02:41

  Quote from Loopster;514797:

  Stereotypes can easily ruin someone's life, imagine a girl that's 15, holding a baby, most would look down upon her, thinking "S***" or "W****" not knowing, that when she was 13 she was a victim, and was pregnant against her will. Then firstly, that happening to her is bad enough, but then people looking down upon her for something against her will, it's not helping.

  
  
  I've never looked down on women at that age with a child, unless they were literally known for fitting such a stereotype. (i.e. how a lot of women are these days; don't use protection, get pregnant, so on) Though I am well aware many people prefer to judge than to actually withhold it until they gather enough data.
  
  I'm well aware of how stereotypes work.~