Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Wednesday, and it’s time for another post in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews. If you’d like to participate in the challenge, you can find the list of topics for 2024 here. If you’re interested in reading other people’s responses to this week’s topic, you can do so here.
TRIGGER WARNING: Below, I talk briefly and in broad strokes about my struggles with disordered eating. If you think this may be troublesome to read, I advise you to skip this one.
Things I Wish More People Talked About Openly
For me, this one is easy. I wish people spoke more openly about eating disorders, especially men who suffer from them.
As many of you will know, I have struggled with anorexia and bulimia for years and am in active recovery, for which I am proud of myself. But for the longest time, I felt shame and embarrassment.
Growing up, I only ever heard of girls and young women developing eating disorders, and I think that is what prevented me (at least partially) from spotting the early signs and getting to grips with the illness sooner.
When I was a preteen, I was chubby and picked on because of it. Kids would call me names and tell me to go to Weight Watchers or to use Slimfast. However, their ‘helpful hints’ only made me want to eat more to make myself feel better, which I did. See, this is how the whole psychological aspect of disordered eating begins. At least it did for me. I’d feel rotten, eat a load of food for comfort and feel better for all of ten minutes — then spiral into a pit of guilt and shame.
When I was a teenager, I began restricting — and when I would start to think that I might have a problem, a voice in my head would helpfully remind me that boys didn’t have eating disorders.
Anyway… this all continued until my restricting, purging, and calorie-counting came to a head about six years ago.
When I entered treatment, I realised that men do struggle with disordered eating because I am proof of that fact. I also discovered that it’s quite common, and the prevalence is rising — for both men and women.
A lot of the men I’ve spoken to since have told me they felt similarly to me: that they’d thought only women developed anorexia and bulimia. How strange is that? We all have human bodies, and yet some of us grow up believing that particular things only happen to specific sexes. I think, perhaps, therein lies the problem.
I wish more men (and women) spoke about their struggles because I really do think it helps. I know I would have felt less like an alien if there had been more male voices around (only on this specific topic — I think our voices are heard pretty loud and clear in most other circumstanses, thank you very much!)
IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING WITH DISORDERED EATING, HELP IS AVAILABLE FROM THESE SOURCES:
(UK) BEAT and SHOUT
(USA) National Alliance for Eating Disorders
Well, that’s me for now. This week’s topic is interesting, and I’m looking forward to reading about what all of you wish more people would talk openly about.
Thank you, as ever, for stopping by to read my words. I appreciate it.
Until next time,
George
© 2024 GLT
Categories: life, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge
GEORGE L THOMAS 
This is a good answer!
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Thanks, Lydia! I appreciate that. 🙂🙂
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I think it’s brilliant that you’ve shared your experience so openly, and I really hope it encourages more people to do the same. Thank you for sharing.
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No, thank you, Sally, for your comment! 🙂🙂
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Profiling for diseases can be a shortcut to an accurate diagnosis and a cure, or an obstacle to finding them! A family friend had a terrible time with expensive treatments that didn’t help and dire diagnoses that, thank goodness, weren’t accurate, because nobody wanted to believe that a White person could have lactose intolerance.
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Yes! There should be a lot more public education and open conversation about eating disorders (and other medical issues) and I really wish that we could shake off the idea that health issues are somehow a moral failing.
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Agree, Michael! Thank you 🙂
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Thank you for sharing this. I completely agree with you – what you hear about influences what you consider for yourself and those you know. Like when I was a teen we knew about homosexuality but not the whole spectrum. Same with gender. I often wonder if a greater understanding of the varieties of identities and sexualities that exist would have helped me figure out who I was sooner. I feel like there still aren’t a lot of men sharing their experiences with eating disorders. There are more than there were, but still not many. The only one I can remember hearing about when I was younger was one of the members of the band Silverchair, and I only remember that vaguely because it seemed so unusual. I’m sorry that the lack of discussion made it so much harder for you to recognize what was happening, and that it took longer for you to get the help you needed. I’m so proud of your recovery and grateful that you share your experiences so openly. It’s definitely something that affects boys and men as well as girls and women.
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Thanks so much for this! I absolutely agree about the spectrum of sexual and gender identities. I think the Gen Z folks get a lot of flack for a lot of stuff, but I wholeheartedly think they have this stuff figured out. At least, I think (and hope) that they are better equipped for self-acceptance in that regard.
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