The charity has been granted £3,950 to deliver a further five half-day workshops in various locations across the country and the Co-operative Fund awarded £500 for two workshops to be delivered in Brighton.

The workshops aim to give participants a better understanding of eating disorders in men so they can become more responsive to men’s needs and recognise the barriers sufferers feel they face when approaching treatment and recovery.

The workshops will:

• Explore some of the myths & misconceptions often associated with male eating disorders.

• Look at eating disorders, definitions, contributing factors and other associated conditions.

• Provide an insight into the issues men face when getting help and looking at real experiences from men who have suffered themselves.

•Examine the barriers men face in accessing services and looking at ways professionals and services can overcome these barriers to provide gender inclusive service provision.

Professionals from across all sectors are invited to attend the workshops including education, health and social care, mental health and counselling.

The cost of the workshop is covered by a grant so those normally unable to pay for the training are able to attend, including students volunteers and carers.

Dates, times and venues for the upcoming workshops are as follows:

• Brighton – Friday 7^th June, 1-4pm, at The Space for Change
• Manchester – Thursday 20^th June, 1-4pm, at the Lesbian and Gay Foundation
• Birmingham – Friday 5^th July, 1-4pm, at the Centre for Voluntary Action
• Bristol – Friday 19^th July, 1-4pm, at the Create Centre
• Newcastle – Tuesday 3^rd September, 1-4pm, at Castle Gate Centre
• Hull – Thursday 5^th September, 1-4pm, at Hull CVS
• Brighton – Thursday 19^th September, 1-4pm, at The Space for Change

Sam Thomas, Founder and Director, said: “Following from last year’s feedback from the workshops, we know there is a need for the training we provide. Participants from the training highlighted the need for specific workshops that explores the needs of males with eating disorders.

“The upcoming workshops enables us to further make an impact on service provision so that male sufferers seek the help and support they need.”

Neil Holmes, Chair of Trustees, added: “We are delighted to deliver this programme with support from our partnership with the National Lottery for a second time. It is vitally important that our awareness raising and training activities continue to grow, and help inform professionals understanding.”

In the Autumn/Winter of 2012, MGEDT delivered five workshops across England. The workshops received excellent feedback from participants who attended.

Shelley Perry Director and CEO of SEED/Breathe in Preston, commented: “Sam delivers intelligent, thought provoking interactive workshops where you will informed and inspired. Expect to have your perception of eating disorders changed!’.”

Duncan Craig, Service Director of Survivors Manchester, commented: “I attended the course to give me a greater understanding of eating disorders and the impact they have on boys and men. I found the content of the workshop easy to understand and the delivery engaging. I learned a lot from the workshops which has enabled me to better identify issues around eating disorders and feel more comfortable talking about eating disorders.”

For info about our workshops and to download a booking form please click here. Alternatively please email sam@mengetedstoo.co.uk

The charity has been granted £3,950 to deliver a further five half-day workshops in various locations across the country and the Co-operative Fund awarded £500 for two workshops to be delivered in Brighton.

The workshops aim to give participants a better understanding of eating disorders in men so they can become more responsive to men’s needs and recognise the barriers sufferers feel they face when approaching treatment and recovery.

The workshops will:

• Explore some of the myths & misconceptions often associated with male eating disorders.

• Look at eating disorders, definitions, contributing factors and other associated conditions.

• Provide an insight into the issues men face when getting help and looking at real experiences from men who have suffered themselves.

•Examine the barriers men face in accessing services and looking at ways professionals and services can overcome these barriers to provide gender inclusive service provision.

Professionals from across all sectors are invited to attend the workshops including education, health and social care, mental health and counselling.

The cost of the workshop is covered by a grant so those normally unable to pay for the training are able to attend, including students volunteers and carers.

Dates, times and venues for the upcoming workshops are as follows:

• Brighton – Friday 7^th June, 1-4pm, at The Space for Change
• Manchester – Thursday 20^th June, 1-4pm, at the Lesbian and Gay Foundation
• Birmingham – Friday 5^th July, 1-4pm, at the Centre for Voluntary Action
• Bristol – Friday 19^th July, 1-4pm, at the Create Centre
• Newcastle – Tuesday 3^rd September, 1-4pm, at Castle Gate Centre
• Hull – Thursday 5^th September, 1-4pm, at Hull CVS
• Brighton – Thursday 19^th September, 1-4pm, at The Space for Change

Sam Thomas, Founder and Director, said: “Following from last year’s feedback from the workshops, we know there is a need for the training we provide. Participants from the training highlighted the need for specific workshops that explores the needs of males with eating disorders.

“The upcoming workshops enables us to further make an impact on service provision so that male sufferers seek the help and support they need.”

Neil Holmes, Chair of Trustees, added: “We are delighted to deliver this programme with support from our partnership with the National Lottery for a second time. It is vitally important that our awareness raising and training activities continue to grow, and help inform professionals understanding.”

In the Autumn/Winter of 2012, MGEDT delivered five workshops across England. The workshops received excellent feedback from participants who attended.

Shelley Perry Director and CEO of SEED/Breathe in Preston, commented: “Sam delivers intelligent, thought provoking interactive workshops where you will informed and inspired. Expect to have your perception of eating disorders changed!’.”

Duncan Craig, Service Director of Survivors Manchester, commented: “I attended the course to give me a greater understanding of eating disorders and the impact they have on boys and men. I found the content of the workshop easy to understand and the delivery engaging. I learned a lot from the workshops which has enabled me to better identify issues around eating disorders and feel more comfortable talking about eating disorders.”

For more information and to download booking form please click here or email sam@mengetedstoo.co.uk

To date, very few studies have investigated the incidence of eating disorders and there are still no exact figures collated across the country. MGEDT and other eating disorders charities welcome the research and as it highlights the potential gaps and changes needed in service provision.

The research by Dr Nadia Micali ran from 2000 to 2009 and has shown that there has been a big jump in the number of new cases of eating disorders from 32.3 per 100,000 population aged between 10 and 49 years in 2000 to 37.2 new cases per 100,000 population in 2009.

Interestingly the study also showed us the fact that the areas which have had the highest increase included girls aged 15 to 19 and boys aged 10 to 14.

Many of the new cases were ‘eating disorders not otherwise specified’ (EDNOS) – which meet most, but not, all of the criteria associated with anorexia or bulimia. The research found a 60 per cent increase in women with this type of disorder and a 24 per cent increase among men.

Dr Nadia Micali, of the University College London’s Institute for Child Health, said: “There is a clear increase in men and women being diagnosed with eating disorders Mostly we see new diagnoses of the EDNOS category, reflecting people who have an illness as severe as anorexia or bulimia, but who don’t have symptoms as frequently as the official threshold. For example they may use strategies for weight loss-such as fasting or self-induced vomiting less than twice a week.”

“It should be stressed these people, who are understudied, are extremely ill. What we are currently calling EDNOS will now be diagnosed as full cases of anorexia or bulimia.”

Binge eating has not previously been classified on its own, but last week the latest edition of the psychiatrists’ manual of mental health disorders made it a new eating disorder.

Sam Thomas, MGEDT Founder and Director, added: “It’s by no means surprising that there is a reported increase in eating disorder sufferers among boys and men. At MGEDT it is promising that more males and getting diagnosed as this suggests they are feeling more able to seek help from their GP.

Increased awareness by in GPs plays a part, which means more males are able to recognise their symptoms. However we suspect this is only the tip of the iceberg with many sufferers isolated and still feel unable to access support.”

What’s most worrying about the results of this study is that eating disorders is the increasing number of boys becoming affected by eating disorders.

Dr Micali said the problem in boys was fast-growing as they fell prey to pressures of modern lifestyle and culture. “Modern society exerts pressure for children and young people to be perfect, to look perfect and be high achievers,’ she said. ‘Boys are starting to suffer as girls did in the past. It’s a mix of genes and environment, nature and nurture, but the reality is we don’t know enough about what causes eating disorders yet.”

BDD as a condition marked by sometimes disabling preoccupation with imagined or exaggerated defects of physical appearance. Many experts consider BDD related to obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. Some common issues often associated with BDD are alcohol and drug addiction as well as eating disorders.  Because of the BDD,  I consistently saw a fat, ugly child in the mirror no matter how old I was and what I did to my body.

It was September 1979. I was moving into my college freshman dorm.   I locked eyes with a pretty, red-haired girl hanging out with her friends just outside my window.  As our eyes met, I smiled.  She pointed at me and said to her friends in what sounded like a thunderous boom, “He’s ugly!”  A derisive, humiliating group laugh emanated from her and her friends.

I was humiliated as those words resounded in my head.  The same words,  I had heard growing up. I quietly cried myself to sleep that night.   I woke up with a plan.   I would deny myself food until I reached an appropriate weight that would make me attractive, popular, and cool. The obsessive-compulsive routine of BDD made it easy. Deny Food, weigh myself, and look in the mirror.  Day in. Day out. No beginning. No end.

I soon realized that even the most focused of minds couldn’t sustain the body of a nineteen year old. I needed to eat.  Even with my body’s metabolic shift to compensate for the starvation, I was in a constant hunger mode.  This realization however, did not open my eyes to the fact that I needed a healthier diet.  I merely looked for new tactics to change the imperfect image in the mirror that had been shattered over the years.  In my mind, I had started looking down, one step in front of the other on the journey to my unachievable goal.   I knew a small group of students who had viable transportation.  I found my way into their group.  On the weekends,  we would go into town and bowl.   After we bowled, we went to eat at either Perkins Pancake House or the local buffet.  I became a part of the “Perkins Pancakes and buffet crew.”  My plan was to starve myself during the week and then gorge myself on the weekends.  I had discovered binge eating.  I also discovered the incredible guilt and depression that came after the binge and the realization that nothing had change about me.  I discovered purging to relieve that guilt.  I had now discovered bulimia.  The ride had begun.  I would be bulimic for decades before recovery began.

The Recovery was difficult and is still an ongoing process. Not only did I have to address the BDD but I had to get the associated self-destructive and life threatening behaviors under control.  The addictions and the eating disorders.  This has involved twelve-step, intensive therapy and medication.  It is a slow process tearing down and rebuilding a lifetime of experiences. Each day is a little better. It’s a journey of both pain and reclamation of my life. I am getting there.

Brian’s book ‘Shattered Image’ is released soon. Read excerpts of his book here.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is often overlooked and misunderstood despite speculation that it could be the most common eating disorder. Whist statistics vary it is widely believed that males are marginally more affected. Due to little awareness, understanding and services available to treat BED, it’s difficult to determine exactly how many people are affected.

This illness is characterized by compulsive, out-of-control episodes of eating followed by shame, guilt and depression has long been underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. BED can be perceived ‘less serious’ than anorexia and bulimia, therefore diagnosed as Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS).

In my view, it’s about time BED is recognised as an official diagnosis in the fifth edition of the manual that mental health professionals use to diagnose and treat mental disorders. This is unquestionably an important change to the DSM -the first significant update to the eating disorders section of the manual in almost 20 years. It will clearly define diagnostic criteria for BED and validate the illness as a treatable physiological disorder.

Typically symptoms are diagnosed as EDNOS, which is also considered a ‘catch all’ for those sufferers who are often diagnosed with symptoms that are not typically characteristic of anorexia and or bulimia. BED sufferers will binge but do not compensate their behaviours. They experience the same emptiness that someone who has bulimia does, but will retain what they have eaten, which will usually make them overweight/obese. The body may feel full but as the brain has not registered the eating, it does not feel any satisfaction. Indeed as the satisfaction being sought is an emotional one, which cannot be satisfied. Because of this, self disgust and shame will be the outcome rather than the comfort which was being sought.

A binge eater may eat when feeling depressed and do so on a frequent basis. Someone who eats compulsively and constantly will consume more calories than what is generally recommended. Both problems share the same emotional difficulties concurrent with anorexia and bulimia and is another way of using food to cope. For more info on BED please including the symptoms please click here.

It’s clear that the official recognition of BED as a diagnosable mental illness is a positive step. The inclusion of BED as an official diagnosis in the DSM-5 provides important validation and definition as an illness that impacts the health and quality of life of males and females and of all ages.

At MGEDT, we hope the addition of BED to DSM-5 will open doors for long-awaited and overdue need for increased education and support….

The exhibition will suggest that the media’s enormous influence, as well as that from the fashion, health, beauty and cosmetic industries, may be having devastating effects on men, women and children. Using different art mediums such as paint, drawing, sculpture, photography and film sourced from international artists, the viewer will be challenged in an educational and visual way to address the issues and to question whether these industries are major factors in contributing to the paranoia and neurosis of those suffering these diseases. Body Wars suggests that we are given our bodies at birth and spend our life dealing with the consequences. Our ‘ideal’ body is constantly demeaning our ‘actual’ body.

Tickets for the event are £12 for adults and £7.50 for students and can be purchased at www.bodywarsexhibition.com. Enter the word ‘Men Get Eating Disorders Too’ into the promotional code when booking and we will receive 10% of the ticket price.

The main purpose for the group is to provide those who attend a space to meet with other sufferers to share their experiences and coping strategies. Our group aim is to ease isolation by offering inclusion to men who attend.

The group will offer:

• A safe and welcoming environment where men can share and discuss their experiences.

•Regular (twice monthly) meetings with other male sufferers to offer and receive peer support.

•Information and advice on eating disorders to enable better understanding of symptoms.

•Gateways to support (e.g. counselling, other therapies and support groups).

Any male affected by eating disorders and problem eating is able attend. Those wishing to attend are welcome to be part of the Peer Support Group whether or not they are currently receiving support such as counselling or other therapies. Attendees may bring a carer for support in the meetings. Please note the group is open to those eighteen and over.

Eating disorders include anorexia (nervosa), bulimia (nervosa), binge eating, compulsive eating and other eating problems that don’t fit so easily into these categories (e.g. Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). Those with body image, overweight and/or obesity are welcome to attend.

Sam Thomas, MGEDT Founder and Director, said: “There is so little support available for people with eating disorders in the Brighton, Hove and Sussex and for many males affected this is a barrier to recovery. By providing a regular meeting space for those affected to speak about their experiences this will help to alleviate the isolation and secrecy of their disorder. The meetings will help to provide crucial space to share experiences, share coping strategies and offer peer support. “

Neil Holmes, Chair of Trustees, added: “‘This is a valuable and much needed opportunity for men to meet together and help support one another to explore ways forward. We hope this service will also help to further highlight the need for greater awareness and services for males.”

Group meetings will be take place on the second and fourth Mondays of the month (7.30-9pm) starting from 13th May. The meetings will take place at ‘Space for Change’ in Central Brighton.

For more information about the Peer Support Service please email sam@mengetedstoo.co.uk or go to our website: www.mengetedstoo.co.uk

You can download an A4 poster for the Sussex Peer Support service Sussex Peer Support Group Poster

As the Founder and Director of UK national charity Men Get Eating Disorders Too, it’s extremely worrying that electrode therapy is being promoted as an ‘effective’ treatment for anorexia. Whilst I agree studies like this are promising and ought to be debated, I’m highly dubious these latest claims hold any ‘weight’ as so to speak. Not only that, it’s concerning that false hope is being created based on the small number of sufferers that found this type of treatment to be beneficial based on minimal evidence of its effectiveness?

In the study published by the Lancet, a mere three people were able to gain weight and had improvements in their overall mood after undergoing the procedure. The researchers say larger trials are now needed to show whether this therapy could provide a last resort for people with ‘difficult-to-treat’ anorexia.

For the first time researchers have implanted the device into brains of people with such advanced anorexia. They treated six women, aged between 24 and 57, for whom most conventional therapy had failed .The researchers chose to implant the electrodes in an area of the brain which influences how people regulate their mood and anxiety. They then switched on the device to deliver continuous electrical stimulation over the nine months of the study.

One of the participants involved said on BBC News the treatment had proven effective for them. She said: “At first I was sceptical – it is neurosurgery after all. But I was reassured by the physicians. It has really turned my life around. I am now at a healthy weight. I was exercising non-stop all day with minimal food before.

Over a few months I gradually noticed I wasn’t thinking about exercise all the time. And I can enjoy meals with my family now.

But it is not a miracle. I have to put a lot of work into changing my thinking and I go to therapy and see a dietician. But it has enabled everything to be much easier for me.”

Lead author of the research, Dr Nir Lipsman, said this was not a study about simply flipping a switch to make people eat more. He said: “Anorexia nervosa has many layers and we need to address the root causes. In many people with the condition this is related to difficulties in regulating mood and anxiety.

“So we wanted to see if influencing this area of the brain could help people with the condition.”

Deep brain stimulation – which involves implanting electrodes into the brain – has previously been used for people with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and obsessive compulsive disorder. Are these medical conditions comparable with eating disorders? I’m not so sure – my feeling is the researchers are ‘jumping on the bandwagon.’

In recent times, it’s been argued that biology supposedly influences the development of eating disorders. However, extensive research needs to be undertaken to ascertain this to be the case.

A service-user of MGEDT commented regarding the article: “I think the big issue is that things like this shouldn’t be discussed until they are studied in a wider berth. It gives as has been said ‘false hope’.

Most sufferers would love a ‘quick fix’ to this, and things like this kind of imply that they are just that. It also doesn’t address the bigger picture as has been said, while we should be helping sufferers like myself now, the focus now should be on looking at ‘why’ and ‘how can we stop this’.”

Too often studies like these dwell on the simplification of eating disorders, which totally undermines their complexity – both in their nature and treatment.

Neil Holmes, MGEDT Chairman, re-affirmed this point by saying: “What concerns me is the suggestion that the disorder is a result of an in-balance in the brain, which a medical intervention can somehow either re-adjust or even cure. As we all know the psycho/social context for the person will also need to be understood and worked with, if real insight and understanding is to occur.”

Instead, there needs to be more focus on understanding on the diverse range of potential causes/contributing factors leading to eating disorders rather than fixating in the most current ‘trend’ in regards to latest research.

But back in the summer of 2009 when Ben began to show classic signs of anorexia my husband Paul and I had no idea that boys got eating disorders. As a result we didn’t recognise the warning signs. We knew something was wrong and that it appeared to be getting worse, but we had no idea what “it” was. As parents of a teenage boy you don’t expect your child to get anorexia. You don’t even think about it.

Published in March 2013, Please eat… A mother’s struggle to free her teenage son from anorexia is my account of how anorexia crept into our normal, happy family life completely undetected. This book describes how, once we realised what we were dealing with, my husband and I watched helplessly as the illness threatened to destroy our son on more than one occasion.

When I sat down to write Please eat… I was acutely aware that I wanted to do my bit to help other parents and carers – not only to identify the warning signs of anorexia in boys but to show that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and to describe how we got there. I also wanted to highlight the importance of early intervention and effective treatment for young people with eating disorders.

This isn’t a story of despair. Please eat… A mother’s struggle to free her teenage son from anorexia describes how, with our help and through his own determination, Ben slowly began to recover from anorexia and re-build his life.

Even if we help just one family to overcome anorexia or another eating disorder by sharing our experiences of anorexia in boys then this book has done its job.

Please eat… A mother’s struggle to free her teenage son from anorexia by Bev Mattocks will be published in March 2013 (ISBN 978-0-9575118-0-4)

Find out more at www.bevmattocks.co.uk  and anorexiaboyrecovery.blogspot.co.uk

Tan explained his motivations for running for us: “Something I discovered very quickly is the alarming lack of help and support there is available for men who have experienced problems with their relationship with food and that there are many suffering in silence with what can feel like a never-ending struggle. The idea that an eating disorder is something only women experience must leave many male sufferers feeling lonely and helpless.”

In total Tan has raised over £1000 for MGEDT and is still rising. The funds will go towards essential peer support services, both face to face and online, for those affected by eating disorders in males.

Neil Holmes, Chairman of the board of Trustees, thanked Tan: “Men Get Eating Disorders Too is writing to you to offer our sincere gratitude and thanks for your enormous efforts to raise money for the charity. We really are overwhelmed and thrilled at everything you have done, and we can assure you that the funds you have raised will contribute significantly to the projects and activities we are delivering now and plan to deliver in the future. People like you are the ones who really make the difference and make changes happen, and it is with great thanks and gratitude that we will accept this money.”

See how much Tan raised here via Charity Giving: http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/tanquddus