Slim, Trim Man May Have Severe Eating Disorder

Ask Ken Ford, a 32-year-old pharmacist and family man, about his deepest fantasy and chances are it will go something like this: He is slim and trim and stunning his friends.

But, poof, the fantasy ends here. He is sick.

The 6-foot, 190-pound Ford is recovering from bulimia, a binge-and-purge eating disorder normally associated, like anorexia nervosa, with women but seen more and more among men.

Like Ford, they are men so obsessed and so depressed by a perception that they are fat that they compulsively overeat, starve themselves or binge and then purge by self-induced vomiting, fasting or taking laxatives.

It is shameful and revolting, they say, especially since eating disorders are perceived as “a woman’s disease.” That’s why men finally are stepping forward and turning to male-only support groups for hope and help.

“It’s provides an avenue for the guys to show their feelings,” said Ford, leader of such a group in Pittsburgh.

The group, one of only a few in the country, has been meeting every other Tuesday night since last July at St. Francis Medical Center. Twelve to 15 men in all shapes and sizes encompass the core.

“This type of disorder for both men and women . . . isolates them because of the depression, guilt, self-hate,” said Ford, who has not shown symptoms of bulimia for 1 1/2 years. “But with men it’s even more so because we’re not taught as young boys to share feelings.”

The stigma can be severe.

May Not Be Considered

“It’s OK if you’re a drug addict or go out and get drunk every weekend. But God forbid if you have a woman’s disease,” said Trent Petrie, 24, a former bulimic who counsels a men’s support group in Columbus, Ohio. The group has been meeting since November.

“Family doctors, psychologists and others may not even consider it when they’re evaluating (a man) with an eating disorder,” said Dr. Arnold Andersen, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University who is working on a book about the subject.

An estimated 5% of the nation’s women suffer from bulimia, according to Joy Kassett of the National Institute of Mental Health’s eating disorders unit. Typically afflicted are those within 10 to 15 pounds of their normal weight who secretly turn to high-calorie foods as an escape from emotional problems. Symptoms include fatigue, swollen salivary glands and an imbalance of body chemicals due to excessive vomiting.

About 0.1% of the female population suffers from anorexia nervosa, an abnormal weight loss and intense fear of putting on pounds that can lead to cardiac problems and death, Kassett said. Victims include singer Karen Carpenter, who suffered a fatal heart attack in 1983 at 32.

Studies show that of those referred to eating disorder units, only 5% to 10% are men. That is not an accurate representation of those afflicted, however, because “men are more reluctant to deal with the problem” and therefore shun treatment, according to Dr. Jerry Gotthardt, a psychologist at the Center for the Treatment of Eating Disorders in Columbus.

Most male patients are overweight when they begin reducing, compared to women, who feel fat but usually are not, according to Andersen. Some men are former high school and college athletes whose erratic eating patterns began during training. Others began shedding pounds to avoid health problems.

The personalities of those with eating disorders are much the same regardless of sex, according to Dr. Ruth Kane, a psychiatrist who heads St. Francis’ adult eating disorders unit and helped form the men’s support group. In addition to food, many bulimics and anorexics abuse alcohol and drugs.

“Most are high achievers but with low self-esteem. No matter what they achieve, it is not good enough or high enough,” she said. “Many of them also were obese as kids and suffered the trauma of being ridiculed.”

Ford cringes when he recalls how his elementary school classmates mercilessly teased him. “Any association with being fat means being picked on, being beat up,” he said.

“It’s an idea of being hard as opposed to being soft, of being competent as opposed to being wimpy,” said Dr. Ralph F. Wilps Jr., 41, a 5-foot-10, 130-pound psychologist and recovering bulimic.

For Don, a 35-year-old art director from Pittsburgh who, like many others, asked to be identified only by his first name, being fat means being alone. He began binging and purging 15 years ago as a way to lose weight and attract women.

As his 5-foot-6, 240-pound frame shrank, “I was no longer the jovial fatnick,” he said. “Suddenly, it was like a whole new marketplace.”

Sores on Back of Throat

He knew, though, he was going about it all wrong. He developed sores on the back of his throat and small tears on his esophagus as a result of constant vomiting.

“Food is very frightening and so readily available,” said Don, who at 170 pounds is still struggling with bulimia. “It’s a bipolar thing. It’s as exciting as it is terrifying.”

The situation, for some, becomes unbearable.

“Lots of time I’d be looking at myself in a mirror with a gun to my head,” said Wilps, whose ethnic food binges sometimes exceeded 6,000 calories, more than twice the recommended adult intake for an entire day.

He gradually overcame his 13-year bulimia problem by eliminating food as an addictive comfort and reward. “I don’t measure what I eat. I don’t worry about it. I don’t think about food until I’m hungry,” he said.

Pittsburgh City Councilman Mark Pollock spent January in the hospital being treated for bulimia, a lifelong problem for him. He went public with his problem in February.

‘A Very Long Process’

“I still don’t have it beaten by any stretch of the imagination,” said the 35-year-old lawyer. “It’s a very long process.”

Despite anti-depression medication, nutrition education, counseling to modify attitudes and behavior and support group assurances, some anorexics and bulimics have trouble shaking their paranoia.

When people tell Henry, a gaunt 28-year-old nurse, that he looks as if he has lost weight, “I think they’re being nice,” he said at a recent support group meeting. When they do not say anything, “I get really upset.” When he’s told he looks heavier, “it’s almost instant run to the bathroom.”

Confiding in others, for them all, has helped.

“I have my once-a-month episode (of bulimia) which is usually pretty nasty. But then I get back in control,” Don said. “Even though I still feel bad, I feel better than I’ve ever felt before in my life.”