Male Anorexia: A Silent Disorder
By Kathleen Birmingham
Michael Krasnow, age 28, died on Oct. 9, 1997. He was alone in his apartment when he died.
The cause of death: starvation.
Michael had just finished writing a 100-page autobiography that he hoped would help make people aware of the disease from which he suffered: male anorexia.
At the age of 16, Michael weighed 115 pounds. He had become an anorexic, continually worried about his “fat stomach” and what others thought when they looked at him. Over time, his obsession about his appearance turned into a series of behaviors associated with anorexia:
- Refusing to allow anyone to watch him eat
- Always wearing a jacket or bathrobe to cover his stomach
- Refusing to drink water because it made him feel fat.
- Refusing to swallow his own saliva
Many people believe that disorders regarding food and body image are specific to females. Men and boys often get overlooked when it comes to eating disorders. Men’s secret, obsessive concern with their body image is very real but, until recently, not well known.
Male eating disorders result from body image distortion. Male anorexics share traits similar to female anorexics, including a desire to be in total and absolute control. The greatest fear of anorexics is loss of such control.
Differentiating them from female sufferers, men generally fall into one of two distinct categories:
- Those who wish to be thin
- Those who wish to be big and muscular
This complicates the disease in men, because those who wish to be more muscular are often classified as reverse anorexics, or having “bigorexia.” These men are prone to excessive body building, strict dieting to put on only muscle and no fat, and reverting to anabolic steroid use to achieve the look they desire.
The New Epidemic?
Anorexia has been in the news for more than 30 years. Treatment centers have been established throughout the world, and most doctors are aware of the symptoms of anorexia so they can keep an eye out for the disorder in their patients. What makes anorexia a “new” epidemic is that the patients are no longer just females.
Men are just as susceptible to societal pressures as women. Just look at the evolution of the shapes of GI-Joe, and Star Wars and Disney heroes. Thirty years ago, they were boyish-looking figures who were slim, appealing and attractive. Today, those same characters have very broad shoulders, rippling muscles, narrow waists and — the goal of many young men today — “six-pack” abs.
Men and boys are bombarded with the image of the “perfect” male through magazine covers and commercials for herbal supplements, exercise equipment and, yes, even diet products. Striving to achieve the ideal manly shape can have devastating results.
But this isn’t a completely new problem.
How Long Has Male Anorexia Been Around?
The first documented case of possible male anorexia came from Dr. Richard Morton, who published in 1694 Phthisiological: Or a Treaty of Consumptions. Morton described the symptoms of an 18-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy as “nervous atrophy,” a “wasting of the body without any remarkable fever, cough or shortness of breath.” Morton speculated the symptoms were related to a disease that resulted from “cares and passions” of the mind.
Since then, male anorexia has become easier to diagnose and more common. In 1990, social scientists Ann Kearney-Cooke and Paula Steichen-Ash created a profile of a male anorexic:
This man appears to lack a sense of autonomy, identity and control over his life. He seems to exist as an extension of others and to do things because he must please others in order to survive emotionally. We speculate that he came from an environment which is unable to validate his striving for independence, a situation which leaves him at risk for symptom formation later in life. He has a history of experiences around his body (such as being teased about his body shape) which leaves him vulnerable about his body image.
Men of all ages and walks of life are becoming unnaturally preoccupied with what their bodies look like. For the most part, they suffer in silence.
They spend billions of dollars on supplements guaranteed to build muscle and zap fat. They spend multiple hours a day working out, minimizing their time spent on more important things. Millions of them take anabolic steroids in an attempt to adhere to the new manly physique of broad shoulders over a narrow stomach with six-pack abs.
Addiction of Starvation
The addictive pull of self-starvation often becomes the motivational force for most anorexics. The start down the slippery slope to anorexia can begin with an offhand comment from someone. The comment may be something along the lines of, “You’re getting chubby.” For the susceptible individual, this is enough to create a life-long eating problem.
Arnold E. Andersen of the University of Iowa College of Medicine is considered to be a leading expert on male anorexia. He established four stages of the disease:
- Stage I: Dieting to lose weight.
- Stage II: The desire to be thin remains, but there develops a morbid fear of food and becoming fat.
- Stage III: The person is no longer in control and is unable to stop dieting.
- Stage IV: The illness becomes part of the patient’s identity, and is often life-threatening.
Andersen found that many of his patients had intense emotional mood swings that were consistent with the effects of starvation. Deep hunger can actually bring on intense feelings of euphoria, only to be followed by a very dark depression. Just as with a drug addiction, this euphoria is only achieved at a very high price.
Believing themselves to be less than perfect can lead males to experience lowered self-esteem, depression and, for some, a life-long struggle with food and body image.
This threat to our men and boys is dangerous; just as dangerous as any eating disorder is for women and girls. The goal to teach healthy eating and exercise is a good one. But, when it becomes a need to go beyond what is healthy and reasonable, we must sit up, take notice and do something about it.
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