OHMYGOSSIP — Dr Alex George has slammed eating disorder stereotypes and their damaging effects on male mental health.
The ‘Love Island’ star and medical expert, who secretly battled an eating disorder after being fat-shamed by fans, has urged men to talk more openly about their mental health.
Talking to NHS GP and media medic Dr Zoe Williams on ‘The Doctor Will Hear You Now’ podcast, Alex said: “The problem with stereotypes is that they can be helpful to have an example of how something looks, but if that becomes a diagnostic criteria, like: you’re either like this, or you don’t have it. That’s where the real issue is. One of the things that is not spoken enough about, is how much eating disorders affect men.
“We have an idea that it just affects women, and that’s not the case, we do know in terms of the diagnosis there are more diagnoses of women each year than men, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a significant number of men.
“Also, what’s interesting is that in men it can often present differently as well. It might be someone who has got a six pack, and big muscles, and looks what society would view as healthy…”
Despite the stereotype that eating disorders only effect women, according to the ‘National Eating Disorders Association’ around one in three people struggling are men, with men being less likely to seek psychological help because of stigmatisation.
He added: “It’s about the relationship with the food, the behaviour, the way that we view ourselves, and the way that we treat our own body, and weaponize food, even.
“So, that idea of whether the ‘six pack’ guy that’s got big muscles, is really healthy, well actually, he could have a very unhealthy relationship with food, he could be over exercising, overtraining, maybe using substances such as steroids, which have serious health consequences, to achieve those goals.
“That is as much of an eating disorder as what we learned in med school to be a ‘typical’ eating disorder.”
Dr Alex George appears on the latest episode of ‘The Doctor Will Hear You Now’, out 5th July 2023.
‘The Doctor Will Hear You Now’ is produced by Insanity Podcasts, part of Insanity Group.

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