Theme Of Eating Disorder Recovery In Men

Discussion
The current study aimed to explore the experience of eating disorder recovery in men. Four themes were found; Self vs ED, The Journey of Recovery, The Next Step and Relationships and Support. It was found that having social and professional support was an important factor in working towards, and maintaining, recovery. The men also experienced an impact on their selves in relation to their hobbies and masculinity. Furthermore, it was found that the majority of the men struggled throughout and after their recovery process to maintain the healthier lifestyle that they had accomplished. In contrast, positivity was often found in the entries, the positivity was towards making better choices and having a better life now the men had recovered.

Positivity tended to arise when the men had been through the more difficult stages of recovery and were looking back on how they had developed as individuals. Bowlby, Anderson, Hall and Willingham (2015) describe this new found positivity as a new appreciation for life. The men were wrapped up in their disorder, they found it hard to see a future for themselves, however now they had somewhat moved on they had found purpose in their lives and set goals they wanted to achieve. The idea of positivity during and after recovery is not well documented in eating disorder literature; therefore this study gives further insight into how men experience eating disorder recovery. Although ED research is lacking in this area, literature does show evidence of personal growth and positivity in recovery of other mental illnesses. McCarthy-Jones, Marriott, Knowles, Rowse & Thompson (2012) researched psychosis and found that participants experienced life in a more positive way when they had learnt to manage their symptoms. Furthermore, Leamy, Bird, Boutillier, Williams and Slade (2011) also found over half of studies in their meta-analysis of mental health recovery showed there was a positive sense of self and identity during recovery. Therefore this idea of positivity in recovery is not new, but is underdeveloped in ED literature. Therefore, this is an interesting point for further research in

The superordinate theme of Self vs ED encompassed this idea, including the personification of the ED and the internal battles they faced. The experience of the self was both positive and negative throughout the course of recovery. Negative experiences included an internal battle with their authentic selves versus the ED. Often the ‘voice’ of the eating disorder was mentioned. Describing an ED ‘voice’ is a common phenomenon expressed in research (Dias, 2003; Bowlby, Anderson, Hall & Willingham, 2015). Tierney & Fox (2010) studied both men and women and found their participants struggled to rid themselves of their anorexic voice and treated it as a companion; it became difficult to battle the voice because it had become so familiar. However, fighting back often resulted in preventing the voice from having as big a hold on participants. The participants had to change their perception of the voice to conquer it, as did the men in the current study. It was expressed there was a battle between listening to their voice versus listening to the ‘voice’ of the eating