It’s Men’s Health Week, a time when guys in Britain often start thinking about taking care of themselves.
But, while many men are looking at making subtle changes to our lives, there’s a real and serious issue that often gets overlooked: male eating disorders.
Despite making up one in four of all cases, researchers have concluded that male eating disorders often go undiagnosed and therefore untreated.
The perception that eating disorders are for girls, gays and wannabe models has been strengthened by the way the illnesses are represented in debates surrounding size zero, dangerous diets and the ethics of the fashion world.
This has had a direct effect the male population, who struggle to recognise their behaviours as symptoms of an eating disorder.
One person in the public eye who has spoken candidly out about his battles with bulimia is former Coronation Street actor and singer Adam Rickett, who, at his lowest point, was purging 30 times a day, weighed six stone and had suicidal thoughts.
He told MM: “I was originally forced to talk about it when I was on Corrie because someone from school sold a story about me.
“I’ve spoken about it a few times since but it seems only now people are sitting up and taking note of male eating disorders. I think that’s because people have stopped treating it as a vanity issue.”
Adam’s eating disorder first began at when he dislocated both shoulders playing rugby. Whilst receiving treatment in hospital he caught a virus which made him to lose a lot of weight.
Whilst trying to put the weight back on he developed bulimia. After vomiting spontaneously whilst binging on food, Adam felt the sensation took his mind off over issues and so it quickly became addictive.
He said: “Eating disorders are just like any other addiction, it gives you something to fixate on. If sufferers can fixate on their body they don’t have to focus on all the other shit that’s going on in their head at the time, it’s escapism.”
Adam had recovered physically from his eating order by the time he was thrust on the nation’s screens and launched his pop career as a ripped late 90’s pin up. Despite this, he admits psychologically it took him until he was 30 until he had worked through some issues and knew who he was.
Adam now lives in his girlfriend Katy and they are currently busy planning a future together, he’s glad that finally more people are starting to slowly starting to give male eating disorders more recognition.
He said: “It’s the embarrassment factor. In the past people have quietly laughed and thought ‘oh he just wants to look perfect’, but it’s not that, and it isn’t something to be embarrassed about.”
Someone who strives to improve the lives of men with eating disorders is Sam Thomas, who set up the charity Men Get Eating Disorders Too after finding that when he went to a doctor and articulated his problems, his GP was more interested in treating his depression and did not acknowledge his Bulimia.
Sam was bulimic from age of 13 until 21, although he got help through other means and overcame his demons, he felt that there are not enough services in the UK to help other guys in his position.
He told MM: “A few years after seeing the doctor, I was reflecting on that experience and I thought; if I was a woman with the same situation and symptoms, would I have been diagnosed a lot quicker?
“I genuinely think I would have and I probably received treatment there and then.
“When I looked online, all I could find was lonely blogs from men with eating disorders in the US and Australia, and charity websites were so heavily focused on young women. I decided I had to do something.”
Men Get Eating Disorders Too gives advice, offers peer support for those who have an eating disorder, it also provides training for those who want to help suffers more effectively.
There is a great deal of material online regarding women’s body issues, but male body hang ups are not usually discussed that regularly in the public sphere or even between peers.
There’s also a common misconception that if you have an eating disorder you must be gay.
This is simply not the case; Russell Brand, actor Dennis Quaid and Kings of Leon front man Caleb Followill are other heterosexual men who have spoken about battling eating disorders in the past.
Although gay men are often more likely to come forward and seek help for their eating disorders, they are still definitely a prominent yet often unrecognised issue for straight men too.
Regardless of sexuality, more than ever before, young men feel greater societal pressures regarding how their bodies should look.
Sam said: “There’s definitely more pressure for men now than ever before. Eating disorders are indiscriminate of age, gender, sexual orientation, job and class.
“Anyone can be affected and that’s the bottom line.”
Pressure on the modern man comes from numerous sources, be it the covers of fitness magazines, friends at school, how men are depicted in fashion to the six packs so widely celebrated on television shows like TOWIE.
A controversial issue that has seen Sam clash with those in the fitness industry over is ‘bigorexia’, a condition becoming ever more present amongst straight men, where sufferers are starving themselves, eating unhealthily whilst trying to bulk up.
The charity founder warns: “We often assume that it’s not really a problem for someone to exercises to the extreme but it can be dangerous, especially for those with eating disorders. I believe the fitness industry is in denial about how healthy body building actually is.”
“It worries me that you can go from being anorexic to being a body builder is and that addresses the anorexia as I don’t believe that a move like that would truly resolve the underlying issues.”
On the charity website, there are lots of peoples own individual struggles with eating disorders, and the charity has created a network of support across the country and internationally.
Sam will be coming to Manchester on September 19 to hold training sessions for those wanting to understand eating disorders better, busting myths and providing an insight into some the issues sufferers face.
He thinks that people who have come out and discussed their own battles are helpful as they get more people talking about an issue that is often sidelined.
He said: “It makes people feel reassured when celebrities speak out as it normalises the issue.
“If people are discussing eating disorders openly, it breaks down stereotypes and removes the stigma for the everyday man to come forward and get the help they need.”
To find out more information and support on male eating disorders visit http://mengetedstoo.co.uk/
Image courtesy of ITV via YouTube, with thanks.
