Why Christopher Eccleston’s Honesty About Anorexia is so Important

What springs to mind when you hear the term ‘anorexia nervosa?’ Perhaps, a young girl? An emaciated young white cis woman from a middle to upper-class background? But what about trans women? Working class? Non-white people? Men?

No matter your race, class, age, gender or sexual orientation, eating disorders do not discriminate. Many groups of people whom suffer from an eating disorder are falling between the lines, are being looked over, ignored.

Yesterday on BBC One, Christopher Eccleston hosted an episode of BBC Lifeline for BEAT (UK’s leading eating disorder charity). Eccleston spoke about his own experiences and the continued importance of raising awareness about eating disorders. Whilst he isn’t speaking on behalf of all men with eating disorders, the significance of using his public profile, as a man, is a game changer in improving perceptions via the mainstream media of who eating disorders can affect.

1 in 4 people with an eating disorder are men. 

I spoke with James Downs, a patient representative for eating disorders at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, about his own experiences with an eating disorder as a man in an assumed female field.

Having developed other mental health issues in his teen years, James was already receiving treatment within the adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), when he began to develop anorexia. Yet when it came to receiving help for his eating disorder James said that, “people struggled to realise that I was developing anorexia because this was something that they only usually saw in young girls.” Now aged 30, James still struggles with an eating disorder.

“I've tried to access support when things have been particularly bad, and it has often been met with long waiting lists or no offers of support at all because my weight has been normal.”

James Downs, 30, is an eating disorder
and mental health campaigner 

Eating disorders manifest themselves in many different forms; bulimia, binge eating disorder, anorexia and the more recently established muscle dysphormia (commonly known as bigorexia). Whilst the latter may, for many, be commonly associated with men, the others remain a taboo. Not fitting the stereotype of said illness, can ultimately prevent people from seeking help. “Most of us grew up with the idea that these problems only affect women,” James explains, “so it can be even harder to recognise your eating as problematic in the first place.”

Having spoken a lot about my own experiences, I can’t exactly say that I felt courageous in the things I was saying or doing. Sure, it was a bit nerve-wracking - just in fear of sounding attention seeking - but I never doubted myself in terms of being an anomaly. There are countless women out there who have spoken of their own experiences with anorexia, that I didn’t feel like I was talking utter rubbish. Yet with men, this isn’t so much the case. An interview with a famous actress about her teen years with anorexia is quite the norm. Famous women appearing on podcasts or in magazines speaking about their experiences with anorexia isn’t uncommon. Yet for men, there is nothing (or very little). 

Silence.

“I worry that men may not see themselves represented in the field of eating disorders, or by role models who may have experienced something similar who they can relate to,” James tells me. However, it isn’t just in the media where representation is lacking. The health services have a stealth of improvements and rebuilding to be done in order to provide the treatment that men with eating disorders rightly deserve – and desperately need.

“I have rarely seen a male therapist or member of staff in my years as a patient in a number of services. I also have hardly seen or met any other male patients. Often, therapy spaces and service buildings can seem quite feminised, even the literature you are given no longer describes eating disorders sufferers as ‘she’ or how all anorexics will lose their periods.”

Beat is a charity that supports and empowers people with eating disorders and promotes a better understanding of these widely stigmatised illnesses. For both James and I, it was the first place where we heard about the possibility of recovery and has been a safe space for seeking support and hope. “The idea that Beat’s services could be under threat from lack of funding at a time when people need them more than ever really worries me, as I know it can be hard to get support as it is,” says James. As a yoga instructor, since lockdown, James has been arranging charity yoga classes, with the proceeds going to Beat. He has raised £3000 so far which will go towards peer support groups for families and parents, helpline advisers, vital information posters to go around schools and universities, and so much more.

Anorexia Nervosa has the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses. Moreover, a large proportion of these deaths are suicide. Anorexia is equally as mental, as it is physical, and with charities like Beat providing spaces for emotional support, this can be life-saving for many. 

Yet 90% of men with eating disorders suffer in silence.

Christopher Eccleston as Dr Who

“Knowing that Christopher Eccleston has struggled too makes me feel less alone in my own struggles, and that is a powerfully hopeful thing. Seeing someone influential lending their support to a charity like Beat is so inspiring and shows that positive things can come from terrible experiences.”

Dramatic weight loss for women, although extremely problematic and embodied in awfully ignorant compliments, is more often than not associated with a diet of some sort. And not uncommon for ‘eating disorder speculation’ to arise. Yet with men, if it isn’t being praised, then it goes ignored. This ultimately leads to men being catapulted into a pit of suppression, a halt in speaking up, let alone being taken seriously by their peers, even doctors. As a (very important) side note, weight loss does not equate to the severity of an eating disorder. Many can gain or maintain their weight whilst suffering from a life-threatening eating disorder.

“I also worry that men may not see themselves represented in the field of eating disorders, or by role models who may have experienced something similar who they can relate to,” James tells me. However, it isn’t just in the media where representation is lacking. The health services have a stealth of improvements and reworking to be done in order to provide the treatment that men with eating disorders rightly deserve – and desperately need.

This is something which James are been working very hard on for many years, and I have continued to be in awe of his dedication to fighting for better treatment availability. “The problems we see in eating disorders services are a result of a lack of ideas or knowledge about how to improve them - I think that services simply need more money.”

Furthermore, eating disorders amongst the trans community are significantly high. There has been very little research on anorexia amongst men but even less so amongst transgender people. The most comprehensive study to date on eating disorders among transgender people [in the US] found that transgender college students reported experiencing disordered eating at approximately four times the rate of their cisgender classmates. Whilst Eccleston is a cisgender white man, breaking the stereotype of what defines an anorexic can contribute to the urgency of more funding and resources being necessary to help reach those suffering in silence – or not being heard.

It shouldn’t have to take a famous face to strike a chord on this issue. The significance of not only unintentionally raising awareness about eating disorders not just being a cis-female illness, but also opening up about the importance of seeking help, I hope can influence others.

Some words from James if you are struggling yourself:

“If you are reading this and are struggling with eating problems, talk to someone you trust. Not just anyone - the worst thing is when your concerns are dismissed, or your vulnerability not met with understanding. 

Turn to people who you know can listen without jumping in to fix everything or to problem-solve. Beat's helplines are a great place to start.

I would challenge all men to be better at supporting each other - in the LGBTQ+ community to stop objectifying each other so freely, for example. For all men to resist the renewed pressures on our bodies which women have had to deal with for decades. For all men to be able to be vulnerable and talk where appropriate, rather than shutting down for fear of being hurt or seen as weak. That way we can give permission for others to open up and find the support they need too.”

ABOUT BEAT

Since the pandemic, the nation’s biggest eating disorder charity BEAT has seen a 30% increase in phone calls from those struggling. However, due to so many fundraising events being cancelled, their funding is set to decrease by 30%.

With your support, Beat’s Helpline can continue taking calls from people struggling with an eating disorder. Please, if you can spare some change, donate here.

If you yourself are struggling, head to the Beat website where they have put together some amazing articles and resources to help you get through this unprecedented time.  

You can also talking confidence to an adviser by calling their adult helpline on 0808 801 0677 or youth helpline on 0808 801 0711.