Though I do not doubt the validity of all the research that has been done on eating disorders, there is a lot of information about them that goes unknown ("Gay men face higher eating disorder risk," May 1).

Sure, as some did in the article, we can blame society and the flawless models and the diet articles in those glossy magazines on our drugstore shelves, but eating disorders are about so much more than that. As a female who has struggled with anorexia, I know that there comes a point when an eating disorder stops being about looking "thin" or "beautiful" or "perfect." Then the issue becomes about obsessing over the number on that scale and this intense, constant fear of becoming fat.

Eating disorders have a psychological component that I believe some overlook or just simply don't know about. Most people with anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder, etc. don't volunteer themselves to be studied.

The deeper, underlying causes of eating disorders aren't unearthed in studies or published in high-profile media outlets. They're written in journals, in online communities and blogs and agonized over every day mentally, only to be truly understood by the eating-disordered themselves.