Then in his early 20s, he had just spent weeks in eating disorder inpatient treatment in Australia, calling his mum, begging to come home.<\/p>\n
He had watched his best friend leave for England to do “what 99.9 per cent of Australians do”, and right or wrong, Tim was going to follow him.<\/p>\n
But with no-one to “keep him on track”, things quickly went downhill.<\/p>\n
“I just became sicker and sicker,” he says.<\/p>\n
“My behaviours and compulsions just got worse and worse.<\/p>\n
“My parents came over probably a couple of months after I moved over, and I remember I was getting dressed.<\/p>\n
“My dad accidentally walked in [while I] had my shirt off, and he just burst into tears.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
“And from there it was basically, ‘what are we going to do?'”<\/p>\n
“I think I realised something would have to happen because I went to have a shower one morning and I fainted in the shower.<\/p>\n
“I smashed my head on the toilet and I woke up and was like, I do not know what is going on.”<\/p>\n
But for Tim, now a lived experience advocate passionate about sharing his story, there was nowhere to go.<\/p>\n
One eating disorder clinic in London turned him away, stating they could not take male patients.<\/p>\n
Another had only two beds, and no room for him.<\/p>\n
“It was a bitter pill to swallow,” he says.<\/p>\n
The number of men living with eating disorders is on the rise<\/p>\n
More than a third of those living with eating disorders in Australia are male, with boys aged 15-19 years old the most affected.<\/p>\n
That number is rising, according to eating disorder charity the Butterfly Foundation.<\/p>\n
Their recent Paying the Price report <\/a>found the number of men impacted by eating disorders has grown by almost 33,000 since 2012.<\/p>\n Melissa Wilton, the Butterfly Foundation\u2019s Head of Communications and Engagement, says the conversation about eating disorders is still “10 years behind that of anxiety and depression”.<\/p>\n “When it comes to men and boys, extreme exercising and muscle growth are often celebrated and seen as healthy due to traditional ideals around masculinity and sporting prowess,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n “This can contribute to a desire to be more muscular and result in body dissatisfaction, which is a significant risk factor in developing an eating disorder.”<\/p>\n The actual number of men affected by eating disorders, she adds, may be much higher.<\/p>\n “Their experiences may be overlooked or misdiagnosed by clinicians,” she says.<\/p>\n “Men and boys are also particularly impacted by stigma, as eating disorders are still often seen as an issue that only impacts young women, which can reduce help-seeking.<\/p>\n “Men are four times more likely to live with an undiagnosed eating disorder.”The snowball effect and the ‘woodpecker’ in the brain<\/p>\n Tim had been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder at around eight years old, after confessing to his parents about recurring intrusive thoughts.<\/p>\n An axe murderer was going to come and kill him, he told them.<\/p>\n “Which is a wild thing for an eight-year-old to visualise,” he says.<\/p>\n “I did a lot of [cognitive behavioural therapy] with the child psychologist around the axe murderer.<\/p>\n “From there, there was a lot of intrusive thoughts, compulsions and things. My OCD has really taken on different themes over the years.”<\/p>\n Anxiety around sexuality, health, contamination and paedophilia followed, like a “woodpecker” in his brain.<\/p>\n Years later, a friend hired a photographer for their joint 21st birthday party \u2014 the photos, Tim says, sparked a new obsession.<\/p>\n “I\u2019ve always been pretty self-conscious, not a whole lot of confidence around myself. From there I just became more obsessed with the way I looked, what I was eating.<\/p>\n “A lot of men rip into each other and get stuck into each other \u2026 so I was targeted by my mates for my weight.<\/p>\n “When you’re already so self-aware about something, and you’re getting teased about it \u2026 you just become more and more obsessed.”<\/p>\n “And then all of a sudden I\u2019m doing things that are obviously not healthy and it just snowballs. It got to a point where I knew this wasn\u2019t good for me.<\/p>\n “But the intrusive thoughts were like, \u2018if you don\u2019t do this now, you\u2019re never going to have a girlfriend. You\u2019re never going to have kids and get married.”<\/p>\n Before long, he couldn\u2019t hide what was going on anymore.<\/p>\n Stereotypes about ‘insidious’ eating disorders persist\u00a0<\/p>\n The number of people impacted by eating disorders has increased by 21 per cent since 2012, and experts say the age of onset is dropping.\u00a0<\/p>\n The COVID-19 pandemic also sparked a surge in demand for eating disorder services.\u00a0<\/p>\n