Struggling from an eating disorder is difficult enough without the stigma that it is a feminine disease. Being a male in the world of ED is difficult in different ways; from diagnosis to treatment. Before DSM-V, one of the ‘requirements’ of being diagnosed with anorexia was the absence of your menstrual period. This ‘requirement’ in itself was sexist and fell into the feminine stigma of EDs.

Today we are working on breaking the old view of eating disorders and having people understand the true nature of these diseases. 

The first general session on the second day of the Conference – NEDA’s annual Family Panel – sent  a powerful and vital message to attendees: recovery is real and possible for everyone. The Family Panel included personal stories of overcoming and perseverance in the face of an eating disorder diagnosis, as well as touching stories from both a father and partner of individuals affected on what they have learned about supporting a loved one with an eating disorder. Here is an overview of this year’s panelists:

A few months ago, my 19-year old happy, healthy, anorexia-free son handed me a “thank you” card. Inside, Ben had written that his eating disorder had been “a struggle fought together not against each other”. He wrote that I was “a shining example to the world that love can overcome anything” and that “we would not be here today in such a state of contentment” if it had not been for my “sheer strength of willpower and motherly love”. Finally he thanked me “for being the one that never gave up”.

Well, the floodgates opened and I wept buckets!