Anorexia: 'I'd never heard of a lad getting an eating disorder'

A man who was diagnosed with anorexia as a teenager has said he did not realise men could have eating disorders before he ended up in hospital.

Ben Robinson, 28, from Bolton, said he would weigh himself up to five times a day as a youngster.

"At the time, I'd never heard of a lad getting an eating disorder," he told BBC North West Tonight.

He said that he hoped by sharing his experience, it would encourage others with concerns to seek help sooner.

Warning: You may find some of the following content distressing

Mr Robinson said he "became very obsessed with weighing myself" as a teenager.

"I was constantly looking in the mirror, pinching parts of my body," he said.

"I was obsessed with this thigh gap.

"I didn't like my legs touching.

"I wanted to see bone because I didn't want to see fat."

If you are affected by the issues in this story, help is available via the BBC Action Line and the charity Beat, which supports people with eating disorders

At the age of 15, he was diagnosed with anorexia.

Two weeks later, his weight dropped to six stone and he was rushed to hospital.

"At the time, I was like 'I've not got an eating disorder', I was like 'only women get eating disorders, only size zero get eating disorders'," he said.

"I'd never heard of a lad getting an eating disorder."

He said his family were told to prepare for the worst.

"They basically said to my mum and dad 'can you bring his family and friends because we don't think he's going to make it through the night because he's so weak'," he said.

He said even though he heard the doctors' words and was being told "'you need to eat this Ben because if you don't you die', I couldn't eat it".

"It wasn't because I wanted to die.

"It was the fear of putting on weight."

He was treated at an inpatient unit, which was where he said he reached his lowest point.

"I thought 'my family are better off without me, there's somebody out there who deserves this bed in this unit more than me'.

"I basically tried to take my own life."

However, after being in the unit for just over a year, he gradually started to improve.

The charity Beat, which supports people with eating disorders, said they had seen a rise of almost 300% in people accessing their support services in the North West of England.

The charity's head of safeguarding Kerri Fleming said the increase was "absolutely staggering".

She said the backlog of people waiting had caused the "early intervention section" to be missed for a lot of cases, which meant they were now "waiting a lot longer".

"We know that the earlier somebody is seen, the better chance they have of recovering," she said.

Mr Robinson, who now gives talks in schools on eating disorders and mental health, said he was concerned by the rise in people needing support, but was pleased that more people were reaching out for help.

"The sooner you get the help, the far sooner you'll get back to feeling like the healthy you again," he said.

"It is just understanding that no matter how low or defeated you feel at the minute, as long as you keep fighting it, you will get better eventually."

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