Manorexia is an unofficial term for males with anorexia nervosa. It affects about 10% of anorexia cases and is treated similarly to anorexia in women with psychological counseling and nutritional counseling. Severe cases may require hospitalization.
Manorexia is a term that refers to males affected by the eating disorder, anorexia nervosa. Manorexia is not an official medical term, but it is often mentioned in the media in medical reports. In 2006, a major news network ran a story about the rise of manorexia, estimating that one million men in the United States were suffering from it.
Anorexia nervosa, or simply anorexia, is a psychological eating disorder that causes people to go on an out-of-control diet, often to the point of starvation. Experts believe that anorexia results from an individual’s need to control their body and they become obsessed with losing weight out of fear of losing control and becoming overweight. The obsession becomes a compulsion, and just like other addictions, it becomes difficult or impossible to control and even harder to admit.
Anorexia is characterized by a refusal to maintain a minimally normal body weight and a fear of obesity even though the individual is actually underweight. Most people suffering from anorexia have a distorted view of their body and therefore do not recognize that they are underweight. They tend to practice restrictive eating, claiming fullness even if they barely eat or engage in binges and purges, or self-induced vomiting.
Although anorexia typically affects females, medical experts estimate that manorexia, or anorexia affecting males, accounts for about 10 percent of cases. The causes of manorexia versus anorexia in women may be viewed differently, as women tend to suffer from underlying self-esteem issues more than men. Some experts believe that males can suffer for a variety of reasons, which could often be drug or alcohol addiction and depression.
In the case of anorexic men, the treatment is in line with that of women. It involves psychological counseling to help the sufferer overcome the underlying issues related to their eating disorder. In severe cases, individuals who may have died of starvation to the point of organ damage, dehydration, and malnutrition may require hospitalization for intravenous fluid administration. The goal of treatment is weight gain and is accomplished with both psychological therapy and nutritional counseling.
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