"Be Rite" - You Don't Need to Act Okay

In this week’s episode, Han is joined by Neil Procter. Neil is an actor and his theatre company, Lancashire People's Theatre, is developing a play about eating disorders in men based on Neils experience.

With Neil, we begin by discussing his personal experience of an eating disorder, and how he transitioned from anorexia, to OSFED, to bulimia, to BED, and orthorexia. We spoke about the Neil’s personality, environment, and social life at the time, and how this impacted his need for the eating disorder.

We then when onto speak about Neil’s experience of BED, the way these behaviours helped Neil manage life when it was falling apart, and why moving away from these behaviours was so hard when they are almost normalised in society.

Neil discusses his practice of Buddhism and how this has allowed him to focus on creating an unshakeable sense of self, rather than being defined by external factors, including his eating disorder. On the topic of conversation, we discuss Neil’s recent ADHD diagnosis and the impact he feels this has had both on the development and maintenance of his eating disorder.

We then go onto speak about the more beneficial coping mechanisms Neil has developed through recovery, and the impact being male has had on his journey overall. We spoke about the men who are helping to raise awareness for eating disorders, and the importance of more discussions around this from those in the public eye.

To find out more about Neil, you can follow him on Twitter @procter_neil or read more at Lancashire People’s Theatre (@lancashirepeoplestheatre).

Please note that we discuss various eating disorder behaviours in this episode. Please tread lightly and check in with yourself along the way.