Men making meaning of eating disorders: A qualitative study

Assumptions that eating disorders are a female or gay disease need to be disputed to relay the reality that eating disorders are nondiscriminatory. The motivation to explore the experiences of men with eating disorders was to promote awareness and a safe path for men to seek treatment. This qualitative phenomenological study included the stories of six men, who provided the research data detailing their experiences of eating disorders. The findings suggest that a Gestalt therapy stance may be of benefit to those in recovery. They also support a phenomenological methodology as a useful approach for revealing content themes and meanings found in participants' stories.