Props to John Prescott for admitting that he suffered from an eating disorder, an eating disorder that’s probably much more common than we think:
Dr Glover, a specialist with Affinity Healthcare which operates the eating disorders unit at Cheadle Royal Hospital in Cheshire, said: “He displayed the classic traits of bulimics – the secrecy, the shame and the breakdown of trust with your family. Bulimia can be brought on by work stress. For some people, they use drink, drugs or cigarettes as an emotional crutch. For John, it was food.“John’s bravery will hopefully encourage more men to stop suffering in silence and seek treatment.” (from The Times)
I first heard of this on the radio as the alarm went this morning. Good for him. The pervasive pressure regarding body image hits all of us, and it’s important for a man to openly acknowledge his illness and how it was mediated by such pressures.
Absolutely, tigtog. Hopefully others will feel like they can speak about it now.
I’m inclined to think that there are lots of people with eating disorders out there. While it’s important to talk about anorexia, I suspect many more people suffer from variations of bulimia.