'According to society’s preconceptions about anorexia, I don’t really fit the image – I am a man' 

Micheal Costello tells his story

"An article published in the Irish Medical Journal notes that there was a 66% increase in hospital admissions for EDs in 2020 compared to 2019. Among this rise in cases are increasing numbers of men who are grappling with EDs."

I have anorexia. According to some of my friends, I am “disciplined”. According to my illness, I am never doing enough – never restricting enough and never exercising enough. According to a recent HSE report, help for me and people like me had to be “temporarily paused” in 2020. According to statistics, I am more likely to die of my mental illness than any other person who is mentally ill.

According to society’s preconceptions about anorexia, I don’t really fit the image – I am a man.