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DR MAX PEMBERTON: I've treated THOUSANDS of patients with bulimia - and like John Prescott, many suffered terrible shame. But there's another kind of bulimia YOU might have - and not even know it...

DR MAX PEMBERTON: When I heard about the death of former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott last week, I recalled how he revealed he had suffered from bulimia for many years

Source: Cubes | 

04.12.2024, 16:26

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Cubes

When I heard about the death of former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott last week, the news instantly triggered a memory of him.

However, unlike many others, I wasn't thinking about his two Jags or the time he punched a protester.

Instead, I recalled how he had revealed he had suffered from an eating disorder for many years. In his 2008 autobiography, Pulling No Punches, he admitted that in the 1980s he had succumbed to bulimia as a way of coping with the stress of serving in Labour's then shadow cabinet.

He wrote of the shame and embarrassment he felt as a man suffering from an eating disorder widely perceived to be a 'woman's disease'.

Fearing that he would be considered unstable and too much of a risk to be a minister, he hid his problem.

Despite his bravery in going public with his battles, his revelation was met with confusion and even ridicule. How could a middle-aged man have what was then perceived as a teenage girl's disease? And how come he was overweight? It showed how much misunderstanding there was around eating disorders. That was 16 years ago, and I'm not sure much has changed.

I used to run an eating disorder clinic and oversaw a treatment group for patients with bulimia and have, over the years, seen thousands of patients with this condition. During this time, one of the most hearbreaking things I learned is that most patients with bulimia wait over ten years before seeking help. This is because, like Lord Prescott, they feel a mixture of shame, guilt and embarrassment.

Many people with eating disorders have crushingly low self-esteem and self-worth, which makes them feel they are underserving and unworthy of help. It can also take some bulimics a long time to recognise that they have the condition in the first place. As strange as it sounds, bulimia often creeps up on them and becomes a normal part of their life. It's often not until someone mentions it that they realise their behaviour is dangerous and an expression of mental illness.

Bulimia is a cycle of behaviour which has three core components. The first is bingeing. This often develops as a way of coping with extreme stress, or distress, or regulating emotions. People can consume vast amounts – several thousand calories - in one sitting. While bingeing the person might momentarily feel better as they feel emotional release.

John Prescott, pictured in 2008, wrote about his bulimia in his autobiography Pulling No Punches

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