Forget The Stigma Fellas, Talking Openly About Eating Disorder Shouldn’t be Shaming
Firstwe had Anorexia along with Bulimia and now we have another couple which are rearing their ugly heads; Bigorexia and Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Now when we think of these particular types of issues we mainly, and typically, think of females being the typical sufferers of the problems, but why do we never think about it happening to males?
Aside from Bigorexia which, as far as we have aware so far, has always been associated with males, it’s so far and few in-between where we hear about them we think about the problem. Stereotypically we have frequently associated it with females. Bigorexia, as you can imagine gets associated with bodybuilders. Sadly this isn’t something that gets discussed nearly as much as it should do. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if the much-needed conversations about this were about as quiet as the cases themselves.
One of the reasons why, and I definitely believe that this is where the whole ‘shut up and put’ attitude is largely to blame. Both the boys and adult men who, for whatever reasons, develop this disorder, can end up in this mental dark place in which they are basically taught to believe isn’t manly to discuss.
In the past I have addressed this in past columns as this is something I myself have some experience of dealing with. For me, when I was going through it there would be days where I would have my breakfast first thing in the morning then go for about 8 or 9 hours without eating a single thing. My reasons? In a bid to try and lose weight, and throughout the process there would be many occasions when I wouldn’t talk to my family about it
My reasons for not doing so? Well my first one was that it was my business and mine alone. Other reasons where that I genuinely believed it to be a non-issue in that I just viewed it as something not worth talking about as it just wasn’t. However, the main reason was that I desperately wanted to get down to what I considered to be ‘thin’ beach body type physique. Basically the typical sort of male physique I’d seen on TV on programmes like Hollyoaks where the typically gorgeous male adonis walked along the pool, shirt off, baring his amazing body being adored by the females within close proximity.
What I will admit to is that one of the reasons why I never told the parents is that I believed that they’d try and talk me out of it. In other words I was like ‘back off I know what I’m doing’ which was secret code talk for ‘you’re just trying to stop me from trying to lose weight’, basically I was of the belief that I didn’t even have an issue.
Oh how wrong was I, and if I was able to talk with my then self I’d be telling him that this is the wrong way to be going about it, and that I’m not doing myself a single favour
According to some recent Eating Disorder Statistics, roughly between 1.25 and 3.4 Million people in the UK suffer from eating disorders. Around 25% of those suffering are Male. If that statistic was carefully recounted and young boys and men were encouraged to abandon the stigma around this issue it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the number was even higher.
In the British soap opera, EastEnders, the character of Ben Mitchell, who’s currently being played by Max Bowden, currently suffering with this issue. For the past couple of months viewers have seen him purge after eating meals, basically making himself vomit after eating in a bid to lose weight. He’s even been shown to over-exercise in a bid to ‘get fitter’.
This isn’t the first time that eating disorders amongst males has been discussed. In September 2020 former British Cricketer, Freddie Flintoff did a televised documentary, Freddie Flintoff – Living with Bulimia in which he struggled with the illness, how it affected his mental health, relationship with food, but most importantly, how it affected his family and friends including his profession.
And he isn’t the only one. In 2014 British actor, Adam Rickett, who was known for playing Nick Tisley in Coronation Street opened up about his struggles with Bulimia. In an interview on TV it was reported how a sports injury which led to him getting an illness at the age of 14 resulted in his weight plummeting. During this period his relationship with both his mental health and food took a turbulent course. It took him years to recover
Now I’m not an expert when it comes to eating disorders amongst males and I don’t try to pass myself off as one, even though I myself have had an awkward relationship with food and exercise in my earlier years. However, what I will say is that if we don’t address the issues of eating disorders, mental health and body issues amongst boys and men it won’t take a clever clogs to figure out what happens
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/adam-rickitt-heart-breaking-bulimia-battle-3284235
