Eating disorders. When you think about them, what do you visualize? Stereotypically, it’s a young woman or girl, perhaps trying to be a model, starving herself or binging and purging in order to conform to what she believes are beauty standards. Or a teenage girl who doesn’t understand the importance of being comfortable in her own skin and becomes anorexic in order to “compete” with her peers. In her mind, there is never such a thing as too skinny, and she ends up putting her body in danger in a hope she can be thin.

About two-thirds of people suffering from eating disorders are women, which is why you may think about women more. However, a third of people with an eating disorder are men, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. Why aren’t more people talking about men and eating disorders? Before you answer that, let’s take a look at men and how they think about their body image.

Male Body Image

While there is nothing wrong with wanting to improve your body, feeling like your body is not good enough is a toxic thought that needs to be stopped.

For men, there are a lot of body image standards, especially for a young man who is unsure of what people interested in them prefer. Ideally, the male body standard has been muscular, trim, and not a single bit of fat on them.

Few men can achieve the look that the presumed ideal male body is by popular media standards, and yet many men want to try. They may believe that if they achieve this look, they may be more attractive and ultimately loved, and they may not look to improve other aspects of themselves such as their confidence.

A man who believes himself to be undesirable may believe that it’s his body that needs changing. While a healthy amount of diet and exercise can be a good thing, a man shouldn’t take things like an interesting personality, kind heart, and confidence for granted.

A man may binge and purge or restrict their caloric intake to lose weight, but they may also be prone to working out a lot more to build muscle. A man may skip focusing on their nutrition and put their body in dangerous situations in hopes that they can get the body they want quicker.

It Affects All Ages

Teenage boys may deal with body dysmorphia quite a bit. As they are dealing with hormones and comparing themselves to other boys that they perceive as competition (including the stereotypical ‘jocks’ or athletes), their body may feel inadequate.

Body dysmorphia can continue in men as they grow older. An adult man may feel the same way, and as a man grows older and their body grows along with them, a man may feel like he needs to make changes. In fact, more male patients with eating disorders tend to be older men. As metabolisms slow, older men may try to get their ‘younger’ body back.

Muscle Dysmorphia

Another facet of body dysmorphia, muscle dysmorphia specifically focuses on muscle tone and size. This can be common in the bodybuilding scene, which is quite competitive.

Arnold Schwarzenegger once said that he wanted to throw up every time he looked at himself, and even in his prime, he was never satisfied. If one of the most recognizable bodybuilders and celebrities in the world isn’t satisfied with their own body, just imagine who else is dissatisfied with how they look.

Why Aren’t We Talking About This?

You may wonder why you don’t hear more about male eating disorders, and why this topic is mostly focused on women. Although women make up a larger percentage of those with eating disorders, there are many men that suffer from eating disorders as well, but this issue is less explored when it comes to men. Here are a few reasons why.

Research Doesn’t Count for Men

Until many recently, many studies about eating disorders focused only on women and not men, making it appear to be something that only affected women.

Lots of Focus on Women’s Issues

Lately, there has been a societal focus on women’s issues, from workplace inequalities to how women are treated societally. These are important issues that should be discussed, and tackling problems with how women’s body image is affected by popular culture is a good thing in the long run. However, this has made it hard to talk about men’s issues, as a shift in focus could be seen as insensitive or inappropriate.

There’s a Stigma

There’s a stigma when it comes to men seeking help for their disorders. Many men feel like they must deal with issues on their own, without help. This stigma also can apply to eating disorders.

Bias may exist in the professional world, and the fact remains that there are some eating disorder centers that only focus on treatment for women. This can make it hard for a man to find help.

If you have an eating disorder, seeking help and speaking up is always the right thing to do. While you may feel embarrassed, you are helping to break the stereotype that eating disorders are only experienced by women, and you may be able to help change the way people think about eating disorders.

You may feel like your eating disorder is something you shouldn’t say anything about, but this is not the case. If you have an eating disorder, it’s important that you seek help for it whenever possible. By doing this, you can help break the stigma that many men have dealt with.

There is a difference between wanting to improve your body and engaging in harmful behaviors to achieve an unreachable, impossible physical ideal. If you’re dealing with an eating disorder, seek help immediately, and remember that you are not alone.

This is a featured post by site sponsor Better Help.

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