While the stereotypical face of eating disorders in our cultural consciousness is almost uniformly female, that certainly doesn’t mean that these diseases don’t also affect men. Of the estimated 30 million people in the United States who have eating disorders, about 10 million of them are men. Yet, men’s experiences with eating disorders are often under-diagnosed, overlooked, or purposely kept hush-hush.
Here are seven famous men who have bravely spoken out about their struggles with anorexia, bulimia and other disorders. Read about their stories and maybe you’ll think twice next time you’re tempted to use the word manorexic.
Billy Bob has said he struggled with anorexia, at one point losing 59 pounds and living off of Twizzlers and tuna.
Musician Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon struggled with anorexia and compulsive exercise as a teen, he revealed in 2008.
In 2006, Dennis Quaid revealed to People magazine that he had anorexia in the mid-1990s after losing a lot of weight for a film role.
Ashley Hamilton, an actor most recently known for Iron Man 3, opened up about his eating disorder and addiction last spring. He says he had both anorexia and bulimia and used drugs and alcohol to cope with them.
In recent years, Elton John has talked about his experience with bulimia. He says being able to talk about it with fellow bulimic Princess Diana helped in his recovery.
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