Uploaded July 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
As part of our 'Talking helps' Conversation series we spoke to TJ about his experience living with anorexia nervosa.
When TJ left school to go to University he'd decided to create a new version of himself, and change some things. One of the things was the way that he looked and it wasn't long before that went a little bit out of control.
There was a really heavy focus on the way that he looked. Seeing on TV shows, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook this perfect person or this perfect young man who looked a particular way and he never saw himself like that. So he found himself retracting from engaging with his friends and family. He started to not do too well in University either because his focus was on the way that he looked making it really hard to engage with anything else that was happening in his life.
TJ believes that finding the right connection with someone that you feel comfortable talking to means a lot. It gets easier when you talk about it. But initially there were quite a few barriers when it came to him understanding what he was going through as well as seeking and accepting support. One of the barriers was, as a young man, whenever he head anything about eating disorders or body image challenges in the media it was always young women.
TJ believed that being male made it a little bit tougher to actually reach out for support because he didn't see himself in any of the media about eating disorders. Whether that was on Facebook, online or on TV it all seemed to be for young women and he didn't feel like he fitted into that.
He also found that his cultural background made it quite tough too. Coming from a cultural background where usually mental health isn't spoken about he locked it away in a box and didn't tell anyone about it. That was a barrier for TJ to reach out and seek help too. He now knows that there is always someone that you can talk to about your mental health, about the things that you're going through. It's really important that to start that conversation and keep it going because if you can't talk to your friends, you can't talk to your family there is always someone you can reach out to talk to.
Anyone of any age, gender, culture or background can experience eating or body image concerns. Watch our full video series to see that there are as many different eating disorders as the people who experience them.
You'll see that eating or body image concerns can have a serious impact on your life. However, you're not alone, and you don't need to do it all by yourself.
That's why our confidential, free and expert support team are here from 8am to midnight AET, seven days a week, ready to talk. Because talking can help.
Butterfly's National Helpline Call 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673)
https://www.thebutterflyfoundation.org.au/our-services/helpline/
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/thebutterflyfoundation
TWITTER: twitter.com/Bfoundation
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebutterflyfoundation
As part of our 'Talking helps' Conversation series we spoke to TJ about his experience living with anorexia nervosa.
When TJ left school to go to University he'd decided to create a new version of himself, and change some things. One of the things was the way that he looked and it wasn't long before that went a little bit out of control.
There was a really heavy focus on the way that he looked. Seeing on TV shows, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook this perfect person or this perfect young man who looked a particular way and he never saw himself like that. So he found himself retracting from engaging with his friends and family. He started to not do too well in University either because his focus was on the way that he looked making it really hard to engage with anything else that was happening in his life.
TJ believes that finding the right connection with someone that you feel comfortable talking to means a lot. It gets easier when you talk about it. But initially there were quite a few barriers when it came to him understanding what he was going through as well as seeking and accepting support. One of the barriers was, as a young man, whenever he head anything about eating disorders or body image challenges in the media it was always young women.
TJ believed that being male made it a little bit tougher to actually reach out for support because he didn't see himself in any of the media about eating disorders. Whether that was on Facebook, online or on TV it all seemed to be for young women and he didn't feel like he fitted into that.
He also found that his cultural background made it quite tough too. Coming from a cultural background where usually mental health isn't spoken about he locked it away in a box and didn't tell anyone about it. That was a barrier for TJ to reach out and seek help too. He now knows that there is always someone that you can talk to about your mental health, about the things that you're going through. It's really important that to start that conversation and keep it going because if you can't talk to your friends, you can't talk to your family there is always someone you can reach out to talk to.
Anyone of any age, gender, culture or background can experience eating or body image concerns. Watch our full video series to see that there are as many different eating disorders as the people who experience them.
You'll see that eating or body image concerns can have a serious impact on your life. However, you're not alone, and you don't need to do it all by yourself.
That's why our confidential, free and expert support team are here from 8am to midnight AET, seven days a week, ready to talk. Because talking can help.
Butterfly's National Helpline Call 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673)
https://www.thebutterflyfoundation.org.au/our-services/helpline/
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/thebutterflyfoundation
TWITTER: twitter.com/Bfoundation
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebutterflyfoundation
