Craig Ross overcame his eating disorders and now mentors young people at the Hopewell Eating Disorder Support Centre.
While training for triathlons Craig Ross would lift weights, go for long bike rides and force himself to vomit almost everything he ate.
The 32-year-old communications manager finally admitted he had a problem when he hit 100 pounds, developed a heart condition and had caused permanent damage to his esophagus and mouth. That was five years ago.
He was diagnosed with anorexia and bulimia nervosa.
“I knew I shouldn’t be binging and purging all the time, but I justified it because I wanted that athletic build,” Ross said.
Men account for approximately 10 per cent of individuals with eating disorders, but the lack of public awareness means that they often don’t come forward. Some men don’t even know that they can suffer from these illnesses.
“The hardest part is admitting you have a problem,” Ross said. “You just don’t see it.”
There are several kinds of eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa is extreme weight-loss through diet and exercise. Bulimia nervosa sufferers experience episodes of binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting, laxative use, and/or extreme exercise. Binge eating disorder is characterized by episodes of extreme overeating.
But eating disorders are not just about food. They are mental illnesses that signal difficulties with identity, self-image and self-
esteem.
Experts estimate that eight per cent of girls suffer from some type of eating disorder.
They are the most common chronic illness in the adolescent female population.
Statistics like these, along with images presented by the media, unwittingly create a stereotype that all people with eating disorder are young girls.
Misty Pratt, the program coordinator at the Hopewell Eating Disorder Support Centre on Chapel Street, dispelled the myth that only teenaged girls have eating disorders.
“It’s not just that one adolescent white girl,” Pratt said. “It affects all types of people from all walks of life.” She pointed out that the individuals who seek support at Hopewell range in age from nine to 60 and older.
Pratt explained that the older individuals are primarily women who have either struggled with eating disorders earlier in their lives and have relapsed, or are facing these issues for the first time. Often the older individual with an eating disorder seeks support at Hopewell because of issues with binge eating or yo-yo dieting.
“They’ve had a lifelong struggle with dieting and they just want to be done with it,” Pratt said.
Then there are the men.
It was difficult for Ross to learn to talk about his problems. At his worst, all he cared about was perfection – in his appearance and in his life.
“To accept that this fault existed was not something I wanted to deal with.”
Now fully recovered, Ross is a mentor and a member of the board of directors at Hopewell. He also works with personal trainers around Ottawa to help them recognize the signs and symptoms of eating disorders in their clients. He said the best way to combat eating disorders – in men and women, young and old – is to stop them as early as possible or prevent them in the first place.
“It’s tough to compete with the images kids are being bombarded with all the time,” Ross said. “You have to assure them that no matter how you look, that’s okay.”
For more information on the Hopewell Eating Disorder Support Centre, visit www.hopewell.ca or call 613-241-3428.