“At
least one out of every ten people with an eating disorder is a man or a boy,
yet most people still think of eating disorders as women-only.”
Eating Disorder Referral and
Information Center
American
football had some startling news this autumn season. In
early October, player, Joey Julius discussed his departure from Penn State football last spring and
summer on Facebook; his reason given was his struggle with binge eating
disorder.
The Nittany Lions’ kicker wrote on his
page...
“Due to my increase in not only weight but
also depression and anxiety, my team of physicians started to notice not only a
change in my overall happiness, but also my performance as a normal human
being…I learned that for the last 11 years of my life, I have suffered through
a disorder known as binge eating disorder.”
His response is not surprising.
First, the male gender is not regarded as
an affected population when it comes to this affliction.
Also, little is known about Binge Eating
Disorder itself, in either gender. Therefore, you have a stifling environment
for harmful anguish and isolation to flourish.
B.E.D., also known as compulsive overeating, is not a
widely known eating disorder as that of anorexia or bulimia. Yet, some within
the medical community believe it is possibly the most common eating disorder
affecting individuals.
Binge eating disorder’s distinguishing feature is the frequent
consumption of large amounts of food while feeling a lack of personal
self-control in his/her eating habits.
B.E.D. is often mistaken for bulimia. Yet,
here is where a distinction needs to be made. Binge eating disorder differs from bulimia in that people
struggling with this disorder usually do not purge their bodies of eaten food
via such methods as fasting, vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercise.
Instead, behaviors which typically occur during binge eating disorder episodes
include...
·
Eating a larger amount of food than
normal during a short period of time (within any two hour period)
·
Eating until feeling uncomfortably
full
·
Eating large amounts of food when not
physically hungry
·
Eating much more rapidly than normal
·
Eating alone because you are
embarrassed by how much you're eating
·
Feeling disgusted, depressed, or
guilty after overeating
·
Binge eating occurs, on average, at
least 2 days a week for six months
(The DSM-IV, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Association, 1994) www.edreferral.com/binge_eating_disorder
But make no mistake about it. This is a harmful, potentially deadly
disorder.
No, it may not have the emaciation of anorexia or the purging of bulimia.
Nevertheless, binge eating disorder, with its unhealthy binging factor,
has its own serious health risks including obesity, Diabetes, high blood
pressure and stroke.
The eating disorder profile most of us think of is far from football heroes.
Yet, Joey Julius and his courageous disclosure cannot be denied.
Disordered eating and image issues are not just “a girl thing.” It is a male
issue too.
Documentation of this reality was, after all, recorded centuries ago.
“A male teenager represents one
of the first documented eating disorder cases... In 1694, London physician
Richard Morton reported the first case of anorexia nervosa in a 16 year-old
male.”
We need to stop the stigma about who is struggling with disorder. The
pain translates genders, affecting people from all walks of life.
“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the
swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet
riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and
chance happeneth to them all. “
Ecclesiastes 9:11
Lives are at risk: male, female, young, old, athletic, artistic,
representing every faith and lifestyle choice you can name.
There is NOTHING new under the sun!
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that
which is done is that which
shall be done: and there is no
new thing under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9
Disordered eating, no matter what the strain, is an equal opportunity oppressor,
threatening not just one’s actual life, but his/her quality of life also. You
can be the most virile, handsome, athletic and powerful football player out
there- and still be affected.
If you are male and struggling, please do not be ashamed. You are not
alone.
And you are, in no way, weak or inferior.
There is help for you. Two of the many resources for eating disorder
treatment are listed below.
The National Eating Disorder
Association (NEDA):
Phone: 1-800-931-2237
Walker Wellness Clinic:
Phone: 877-899-7254
It’s time all of us become aware and help the sufferer, no matter who she-or he- may be!
Copyright © 2016 by Sheryle Cruse
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