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Hair is a powerful symbol of individual and group identity: physical and therefore personal yet public rather than private. Despite the fact that male pattern hair loss causes men considerable emotional distress, its unconscious emotional significance is almost entirely unrepresented in the psychoanalytic literature, with a few notable exceptions. After a review of the sociological literature on male pattern hair loss and the relatively sparse psychoanalytic literature on hair and hair loss, four interlocking perspectives on hair loss in men are elaborated: (1) hair as the locus of maternal desire, (2) hair as evoking the helplessness of early infancy, (3) hair loss as a symbol of aging and death, and (4) hair loss as evoking paternal identifications and experiences with the paternal function. These ideas are illustrated with reference to T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and with a clinical case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with anorexia nervosa frequently describe feeling that their bodies, or parts of their bodies, are disgusting, ugly, gross, or "fat." In this article, I develop an understanding of these feelings, using Kristeva's notion of abjection, which highlights an aspect of the subjective experience of anorexic patients. This can be accounted for by two traumatic themes, i.e., aspects of the mother-child narcissistic object relation often observed in this patient population: (1) an experience of having been subjected to intrusive foreign bodies and (2) the formation of a rotten core. These patterns of experience hobble the mind's capacity for representation and symbolization, which has led many theorists to invoke the concept of alexithymia, accounting for the repetitive, concrete quality of the anorexic patient's clinical presentation. Such a conceptualization—illustrated with several brief case excerpts—points to an important mechanism of therapeutic action for this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After an overview of the opposed concepts of freedom and psychic determinism, and of the compatibilist reconciliation between the two that is most appropriate for psychoanalysis, the importance of agency as a psychoanalytic idea is considered. In particular, two ways in which the term agency may be used are examined: agency as fact and agency as experience. The former refers to the degree of relative freedom an individual possesses from “inner” constraints, whereas the latter refers to the experience of oneself as having an active impact on the self, other people, and/or the world. Importantly, these two senses are not coextensive. With this distinction in place, it is argued that agency as experience is rooted in the infant’s earliest experiences of motility. As an extension of Winnicott’s reflections (1950) on the relation between motility and aggression, it is argued that inasmuch as it involves the overcoming of opposition, aggression is integral to the developmental unfolding of the experience of agency. Further developmental conditions needed for a full experience of agency are noted. Ultimately, it is suggested, agency is central to the psychoanalytic project itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders in men. Topics covered include the complex factors which prevented families from seeking treatment for eating disorders, the stages of the treatment process for patients and the barriers to the alliance-building process which are specific to men with eating disorders. Also mentioned is the diagnosis of muscle dysmorphia and binge eating disorders in men.

The article recommends eating disorder prevention programs to be gender inclusive. Topics discussed include the multi-cultural male ED, the higher risk of developing ED in people identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ), athletes such as wrestlers, gymnasts and jockeys, and body builders, and focusing research and prevention of binge eating disorder (BED) in men.

The pro-anorexia community has emerged as a powerful cultural movement that takes an at least partially positive attitude toward anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders. A systematic review of the literature on pro-ana forums focused specifically on females with eating disorders. However, epidemiological data suggest that as much as 25% of the eating disorders population is male. In our review of pro-anorexia web sites, we found a substantial number of participants were male. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of male participation in pro-ana forums in an effort to learn more about male participation in these forums. In this article, we present the results of this analysis, highlighting themes of social support, community appreciation, and ambivalence, as well as themes that appear to be particular to the male experience of eating disorders, such as alienation and teasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]