Men with Eating Disorders Overlooked

[Peppero]

Interestingly, studies show that eating disorders are tied to OCD and anxiety and that there usually is a stressful trigger incident (or series of incidents) that sets off the eating disorder. From the research I have seen, ED has been around since at least the 1800's and even exists in the same population proportion in cultures where the ideal standard of beauty is rotund. What happens is the person develops a negative relationship with food and fat (similar to what you experienced) and develops an anxiety over eating and gaining fat. The stereotype is that it is teen girls wanting to meet unrealistic beauty standards, but that "cheapens" the reality of it: it is a mental disorder, and one with the highest death rate if left untreated (about 20%).

This is why it is so dangerous to write off men, non-whites and older people who had ED. This was poked fun at in an episode of American Dad (season 2 episode 2 "American Dad After School Special"). They did a really good job with it overall, and the ED counselor kept referring to Stan as a "teen girl" to show the stereotype. It was sparked when Stan didn't like Steve's fat girlfriend but Steve didn't care. This was Stan's stress trigger and caused him to try to control fat in the house by getting in shape (it set off body dysmorphia in his head).

This explains why every person, male and female, in modern society is bombarded with "ideal" bodies in the media but only a small percentage develop an ED. It isn't caused by the media, but rather a mental disorder and an emotional trigger.