Male Eating Disorders: 10 Things You Can Do To Help

According to general statistic one out of ten patients with eating disorders is a man. That means that men are 10% of all eating disorders suffers, but according to the opinions of many experts the number could even be higher.

The problem with men is that they are reluctant to come and complain about their problems and hide their problems longer than women do. All these make it hard to show an accurate statistic for male-sufferers. Clinicians agree that diagnosing anorexia and bulimia in men is more difficult than it is in women despite identical behaviours.

Men are also much more likely to be diagnosed with depression associated with appetite disturbances. A large proportion of men suffering from eating disorders are athletes. There is a tendency among male-athletes to diet or avoid certain foods in order to achieve a target weight or body image.

Other occupations which are prone to developing eating disorders are horse racing, modelling, dancing, distance running and driving.

The lack of visibility of eating disorders in men means a number of things. First, men don't discuss anorexia-bulimia problems and they don't share their information with other men. Most of them think that the topic is a female issue.

Second, men associate beauty with body mass, muscle bulge and definition, not weight loss. For many men admitting that they have an eating disorder can undermine their masculinity. This makes men keep their secret about their eating problems to themselves if they have one.

Third, men think that society expects them to be tough and seeking help for emotional problems (especially something related to food) makes many males feel uncomfortable, so they don't do it. Nevertheless, the statistic shows that:

- About 3% of men diet all the time or at least ten times a year. - About 10-14% of young men deliberately vomit after meals in order to control weight and/or relief their stressful feelings.

- Up to 21% of men have history of binge eating (when they binge food to moderate their emotions).

The latest studies also showed that psychologically male eating disorders are similar to female eating disorders. They both have similar emotional grounds and start for similar reasons.

What are the kind of strategies we can use for prevention and early intervention of male eating disorders?

1. We should recognise that eating disorders do not discriminate on the basis of gender and men can be affected the same as women.

2. We need to learn about the warning signs of eating disorders in men: weight fluctuations, extreme concerns about weight and body image, general withdrawal from others, extreme fussiness regarding eating certain foods, mood swings, frequent measurements of their own body and weight, counting calories and reading food labels, overexercising and the like.

3. We must understand that certain activities and professions (being an athlete, actor, dancer, jockey etc.) put men at risk of developing eating disorders.

4. We should talk with young men about cultural attitudes to "masculinity" and how it is portrayed by media.

5. Encourage male's involvement in traditional "non-masculine" activities such as shopping, laundry, and cooking.

6. Demonstrate our respect for gay men.

7. Should never emphasise body size or shape as an indication of a man's worth or identity as a man.

8. We should confront others who try to tease men who do not meet traditional cultural expectation for masculinity.

9. As parents and teachers we should listen carefully what young men are saying about their feelings and emotions and take them seriously.

10. All fathers should understand their important role in the prevention of eating problems in their sons by not degrading them if they are not interested in sport or other so called manly events.

To conclude, male eating disorders are an important issue nowadays. Understanding, talking openly about these problems will help enormously to fight it. Encourage men to talk and share their experiences will be the first important step to overcoming it.



About the Author
Dr Irina Webster MD is the Director of Eating Disorder Institute. She is an author of many books and a public speaker. To read about eating disorders books go to http://www.eating-disorders-books.com

Adult Eating Disorders: How To Deal If The Person Doesn't Admit Having One

If you are dealing with an adult who suffers from an eating disorder, then you should adjust your talk to a relevant format.

Remember, an adult may use stronger language than a child would use. Do not get angry. It will not do any good, and will probably make things worse. Plus, the sufferer will not want to confide in you.

Remember that your appearance and tone of your voice should make her/him feel that you are coming with an open heart, and you do it only because you love her/him and care very much about the person: that you don't have any intention of putting them down or embarrassing them in any way.

Be sensitive, diplomatic and intuitive. Regardless of what happens during the conversation, you should finish the exchange letting the person know that you are willing to listen to them anytime they feel more comfortable about talking.

If the person you want to help doesn't admit they have a problem, then:

1. Understand that you (and the person close to you) are not responsible for their illness BUT you should take responsibility to do what you can to help them to improve and recover. Without this decision to help, it is more difficult for them to improve on their own.

2. Focus on loving and supportive relationships between you and the sufferer. Avoid being on a drama triangle which means avoid being a "Persecutor", a "Rescuer", or a "Victim"

3. Create intimacy between you and the sufferer. When the sufferer feels completely secure with you, she/he will open up and talk about the problem.

The ways to create intimacy between two people are: - Be Present and Tune In. - Ask questions in which you can show your caring and lovable attitude toward the person. - Listen with Empathy and compassion. - Accept without Judgment. - Saying softly "Tell me more..." when you are listening it will make her/him feel immensely loved by you and connected to you at a deeper level. - Reflect Back. - Respect Soul. - Be Transparent. Let others see into your heart and inner world. - Speak Gently. - Realize that if the person doesn't want to talk about her/his problems and denies their anorexia-bulimia, it could be the result of her/his emotional state of mind at that time. They could be experiencing emotional cut-off.

4. Emotional cut-off refers to the mechanisms people use to reduce anxiety from any unresolved emotional issues with parents, siblings, and other members from the family.

To avoid sensitive issues, some people either move away from their families or rarely go home. Or, if they remain in physical contact with their families, they avoid sensitive issues by diverting the conversation, cutting off the risk of having to face their emotions.

The opposite of an emotional cut-off is an open intimate relationship. It is a very effective way to reduce a family's over-all anxiety and acts like security priming.

5. Continue on with your education about eating disorders. The more you know about the disease, the easier it becomes to conquer it.

From our personal experience coping with a person suffering from an eating disorder, it is obvious that there isn't one single definitive guide or course of action for you or the sufferer to follow that will guarantee a solution to their eating problems.

Your attitude and beliefs about how the sufferer should act and your ability to interact as a caregiver can affect the way you respond to your loved one.

Remember, that if one approach for coping with your loved one's illness does not work, there is always another way. People who develop eating disorders are absolutely normal. However something happens in their lives that make them suffer emotionally and they turn to an eating disorder to compensate for this emotional discomfort.

So, you as a caregiver have to be very understanding, caring and most of all non- judgemental if you really want to help.



About the Author
Dr Irina Webster MD is the Director of Eating Disorder Institute. She is an author of many books and a public speaker. To read about eating disorders books go to http://www.eating-disorders-books.com

The Causes and Treatment of Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is obsessive compulsive disorder of eating. The person suffering from this disorder has the tendency to consume big amount of food in a short span of time. Research says - the individual who is suffering from bulimia nervosa can eat much more than 3,000 calories in an hour.

Normally, bulimia nervosa starts at adolescence age and typically can be seen in women; it's never mean that men are untouched from this disorder. Men also suffer from this disorder but comparatively in lesser number. The intensity of this disorder obsesses the individuals to be compulsive for the food. Resultantly, individuals loose their control and start eating. If it not get cured on time, its consequences could be dangerous enough to cause life-threatening troubles like heart damage and injury of digestive system. The other severe problems are anxiety disorders, kidney damage, and dental problems.

In addition, this disorder also forces individuals to indulge themselves into self-destructive behaviors like kleptomania, alcohol/drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, and self-mutilation.

The causes of bulimia nervosa are yet unknown to physicians and researchers. However, the probable causes are:
* The person who is already suffering from anxiety or other obsessive compulsive disorder.
* Has low self-esteem.
* If the person has not healthy relationship with his/her family members.
* It might be heretical.
* Sometimes, culture also causes bulimia nervosa.

Bulimia nervosa symptoms are viz...

* Consume excessive food in short period of time.
* Excessive care if body's weight and shape.
* Tendency to purging (self induced vomiting) immediately after intake of food by taking enemas or by abusing laxatives. And, it causes dehydration.
* Self-criticism; unhappy mood; feelings of embarrassment and guilt during and after bingeing and purging.
* An acute fear of becoming fatty.
* Too much exercise or fasting.
* Kidney problems and tooth decay.


The person who is suffering from bulimia nervosa has no need to bother about it because there are many bulimia treatment centers running useful bulimia treatment program. Many people get cured and again re-started their healthy lives.

The objective of bulimia treatment is to lessen or abolish binge eating and purging tendency. Hence, as soon as individuals identify the bulimia nervosa symptoms, they should immediately get in touch with bulimia treatment center. Bulimia treatment center provides comprehensive medical care by monitoring the all activities of patients. However, bulimia treatment program exclusively designed in such a way that it -

* Counsels the patients to diagnose the problems properly
* Assists in restoring the lost weight
* Control the behaviors of excessive eating, dieting, and purging
* Provides long term bulimia treatment for full recovery
* Bulimia treatment program also takes care of the other disorder associated with bulimia nervosa.

Moreover, the bulimia nervosa, disorder of excessive eating can be easily diagnosed and cured by proper identification of problems. Bulimia treatment center has well established program for the treatment of bulimia patients. Above all, psychotherapy helps patients to regain the lost self-esteem and correct the distorted behaviors.



About the Author
For more information regarding Bulimia treatment, Bulimia treatment program, Bulimia Nervosa Symptoms and Bulimia Treatment Center; please visit: Bestbulimiatreatment.com

The Integrated Approach of Eating Disorder Treatment Center

Eating disorder is such a complex problem that appears with many other serious problems like anxiety disorders, drug/alcohol addiction and some other psychiatric problems including bipolar disorder. Therefore, almost every eating disorder treatment center has the facility to diagnose all problems associated with eating disorder and provide proper medical remedy.

The eating disorder treatment center has the programs to assist the persons who are suffering from eating disorder and re-establishes their normal lives. It provides a supportive and cooperative environment along with necessary components. Besides, it also carefully copes up with the underneath problems like stressors and biochemical factors that cause them to binge, purge, and starve repeatedly. The experts of respective fields utilize a multi-disciplinary treatment approach to diagnose the all problems inter-connected to eating disorder.

Based upon the patients' problems, needs and feedback, eating disorder treatment center offers individualized treatment approach like anorexia treatment, bulimia treatment, bipolar disorder treatment etc. In addition, it applies specialized and integrated techniques i.e. psychodynamic, education, and cognitive behavioral therapy.

More often, eating disorder treatment requires long-term treatment with special care; therefore, the most of the time severely affected person need to get hospitalize. The purpose is to keep patients under 24 hours and 7 days surveillance. Here patients with medical treatment also have been asked to follow yoga, relaxation, and stress management techniques. There is a cumulative effect of these treatments that assist to gain normal life soon.

However, sometimes eating disorder complicacy increases more consequently patients fallen under deep distress and started to feeling guilt and remorse which further lead them towards drug addiction and alcohol addiction. Hence, in this special situation, individuals immediately need to consult drug treatment center and alcoholism treatment center accordingly.

For more information regarding: Eating Disorder Treatment, Bulimia Treatment, Bipolar Disorder Treatment and Addiction Treatment; please visit: Womenstreatmentprogram.com



About the Author
For more information regarding: Eating Disorder Treatment, Bulimia Treatment, Bipolar Disorder Treatment and Addiction Treatment; please visit: Womenstreatmentprogram.com

How to Handle Eating Disorder Problem?

Eating disorder is a severe problem that causes mental sickness to the individuals. Consequently, it damages the individuals' lives physically and emotionally. Individuals suffering from eating disorder having tendency of eating too much calories in short span of time, devour food secretly, compulsively counting intake calories and on the contrary, some individuals have the fear of becoming fatty so they do excessive dieting.

Eating disorder ranges from moderate mental distress to life-threatening anguish, and can affect every aspect of individuals' daily lives. Individuals suffering form it, develop negative attitudes about themselves that charge the damaging behaviors. They criticize about their food, weight, body shape, and self image. Hence, eating disorder is not only about excessive and frequently eating and dieting rather it is a complex psychological disorder that badly influences the individuals' eating patterns and then develops the tendency to maintain it. Normally, this disorder occurs during adolescence or young adulthood. In comparison to men, women and girls are more likely to develop eating disorder.

Some important eating disorders are - Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, and Orthorexia. Though, it is such kind of disorder that easily cannot noticed, nevertheless followings are the few eating disorder symptoms help in identifying the disorder viz...

* Compulsive attention on healthy, food, and nutrition.
* Development of interest in reading about food, nutrition, and calories.
* Avoid eating fatty and highly nutritious food and become very choosy - what to eat and what not to eat.
* Excessive dieting
* Much bother about their weight and having no satisfaction over their own body images
* Weak concentration

If the eating disorder symptoms have been identified in early phase, its treatment is easily possible. However, the eating disorder treatment depends upon the individual's specific symptoms and severity of the disorder. The right approach of eating disorder treatment is identification of physical and psychological aspects of disorder. Most of the time, its treatment is done with the combination of psychotherapy, nutritional counseling, and group support. Nevertheless, if it seems more serious, there are many recognized eating disorder treatment center and eating disorder clinic, where treatment done under physician's surveillance.

Eating disorder treatment center has residential programs that offer a comprehensive range of treatment methods. The purpose is to be careful the patient's requirement properly. After proper diagnosis, physicians provide the best level of treatment accordingly.

However, sufficient information about the eating disorder is available on the INTERNET. An individual can take eating disorder help from the internet. In addition, it could help in identifying the eating disorder symptoms and its treatment. Internet also helps in finding the best eating disorder clinic present in the city.



About the Author
For more information regarding Eating Disorder Clinic, Eating Disorder, Eating Disorder Treatment and Eating Disorder Help; please visit: Eatingdisorderclinics.net