“It also taught me a lot about myself”: A qualitative exploration of how men understand eating disorder recovery

Table 1 Participant Demographics

Pseudonym	Age	Country of Origin	Eating Disorder	Marital Status	Other psychiatric comorbidities	Duration of illness
Stevie	33	USA	Bulimia Nervosa	Single	Depression, Anxiety	~ 7 years
Paul	25	USA	Bulimia Nervosa	Single	Depression, Anxiety	5 years
Tom	23	USA	Anorexia Nervosa	Partnered	Depression, Anxiety	5 years
Rony	31	USA	Bulimia Nervosa	Single	Depression Alcohol Use	11 years
Allen	Unspecified	USA	Orthorexia^a	Unspecified	Anxiety	~ 7 years
Jim	20	Australasia	Anorexia Nervosa	Single	Anxiety	4 years
Harry	31	Australasia	Anorexia Nervosa	Single	Unspecified	Unspecified
Mike	20	Australasia	Anorexia Nervosa	Partnered	Anxiety	3 years

^aAllen did not wish to provide a DSM-5 diagnosis. He said it was “closest to Orthorexia … at best, this is disordered eating, coupled with a nasty anxiety disorder”. During the interview he discussed severe persistent eating disorder symptoms such as compulsive exercise, weight concern, body image concern, avoiding social eating, previous low weight, and restrictive dieting. These are all symptoms found in DSM-5 eating disorders, but he was also concerned about ‘clean eating’ and thereby chose ‘orthorexia’ as the diagnosis. For example, he had had therapy but whilst helpful, it focussed on body image and he would have preferred it to extend to have a “good relationship with food” which he “regarded as paramount”.

ISSN: 2050-2974