Eating Disorder Iceberg

Always nice to have one's intuitions confirmed: that diagnosis is highly dependent on pre-conceived notions. I've always chafed at the marginalization of boys in eating disorder literature and discourse. I've always suspected that if society and doctors and especially parents knew what to look for that we'd be diagnosing AND TREATING many people who otherwise end up being seen as "picky" or "weird" or "very particular."

An Eating Disorder Iceberg, Revealed

There's more in this analysis of the research than just the gender gap, but I remember when a few years ago a pretty large study indicated that the numbers of male ED patients was more like 1 in 5 rather than the usual 1 in 10 - that it just disappeared from sight. I suspect people just couldn't fit that into their thinking so they just keep repeating the old stuff. The problem of constantly recycled old information is a big problem.

Comments

  1. Been there, done that with my son. Thanks for looking at the full spectrum Laura. Until I found your blog, I've found little in terms of resources about men/boys and ana. The link to "Nourishing My Son" has been reflective for me. Thanks.

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  2. It's a great article. The more accurate and complete information we have about those who truly have eating disorders, the better. It is distressing to me how many suffer and how few get adequate care, or even any care at all.

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  3. So much for "rich white girl's disease"

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  4. I wish I'd had this article this afternoon while trying to raise awareness. The only person who asked me direct questions wanted to know exactly these kinds of things - is it rare, which is most common AN or BN, how do you tell, do boys get it??? Can't have every piece of relevant information at your fingertips though. I really hope that she does go and find it for herself rather than anything outdated and wrong.

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  5. My daughter is currently an inpatient and the ration last week was her and five boys!

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