Gender Free Matter

Eventually we have started to talk more about men and Eating Distress. I use the expression ‘Eating Distress’, because really the distress that is eating the person is the underlying issue of all eating disorders.

We are now seeing headlines informing us of the growing numbers of ED sufferers in male population. My question is – is the number growing or maybe we were just not aware enough?
1694 London physician Richard Morton made the first recorded entry of a person suffering with Anorexia Nervosa, guess what? – It was a 16-year-old male.
If we look at history – Roman’s Vomitariums – who used them?
Henry VIII – his eating habits tell us a lot – what would he be diagnosed with today?

The point I am trying to make is that we need to be more careful how we talk about mental conditions. ED was for a long time talked about as a ‘young girls illness’. That does not mean that men did not suffer. That means we made it very difficult for the male population to seek help.
It is difficult for anyone to admit to an ED, but especially difficult for men.
From my work I can see that it is not even easy for family members of male sufferers to accept that their loved one has an ED. They do not want their loved one to suffer from a ‘young girls’ illness. That is understandable – how many ladies would like to have a ‘male disease’?

So, let’s all learn, let’s be more careful with numbers and different statistics, it can keep people in isolation, because we do not know, it does not mean that it is not there….
ED does not make difference between gender, age or colour, some day when the focus is more on understanding than diagnoses we all will see that.
Well done to all the men who took the courage to come and speak openly about their experiences? They are an inspiration for us all.