Everyday Example of a Man with an Eating Disorder

An example I viewed was from an episode of “Intervention.”  His name was Andrew and he was an 18 year old bulimic.  Andrew became bulimic because of the lack of control in his life.  Coming from a white upper class family things became hard for Andrew when his father left his family in pursuit of a better job.  He ended up moving states away for 9 months of the year.  This made Andrew feel abandoned which didn’t help him much since he was being bullied in school due to his weight.  While in high school Andrew joined the ROTC program and lost some weight, which he was praised for.  When Andrew was 17 he enrolled in the Marine Corps, however things did not go well in boot camp.  Andrew was soon bullied by other recruits and later was even sexually abused by another recruit.  He attempted to tell someone he felt would help, but they just forced him to keep quiet.  This event made Andrew lose all respect for the Marine Corps and he was soon after discharged.  Once he returned home Andrew was seen as a quitter and felt unwanted, this lead to his excessive weight loss and bulimia.  

Andrew seems to exhibit this negative behavior in order to feel like he has control over something.  He lacked control over being bullied, abused, and abandoned, but once he started binging and purging he was able to control his body.  Andrew always wanted to make his own choices and when he lacked a choice is when he would become violent and begin to binge and purge.  He yearned for this negative behavior because he loved the way it made him feel.  Andrew felt powerful because he had the decision to make himself purge, no one else can make him do it.    Situations like Andrew’s are very common especially if bullying is involved.  Some eating disorders in men have a lot to do with control and they grow addicted to the feeling they get no matter what the repercussions are.  

For a short video on Andrew click here.