Man so thin he was banned from driving battled anorexia for eight years
A man has revealed his struggle with anorexia - which once left him so thin he was banned from driving.
Joe Rogers, 34, now has a healthy relationship with food and wants to help others. But he spent eight years struggling with his weight - dropping to just five-and-a-half stone at his lightest. Joe says his anorexia affected his social life too - and caused him to miss key life events like prom.
And the DVLA once banned him from driving because his low weight made him a safety risk, he claims. Joe, from Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, was formally diagnosed with anorexia at 13. He struggled with the condition until after he came out as gay at 21.
Joe said: "It wasn't until I was able to deal with those [feelings] that I could live my life. [I thought] unless I change something in myself it was going to continue and continue." Joe says he began restricting food when he turned 12 as a way of "controlling" confusing feelings during puberty.
The alarm bells were initially rung by his mum Julie, who noticed Joe was eating differently. The first sign was when he went to McDonald's with his mum and said he didn't want to eat anything. It was then that Julie took him to the GP. He was then in and out of hospital throughout his teenage years - which "really affected" his education.
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Joe Rogers while struggling with anorexia (Joe Rogers/SWNS)The GP initially put his situation down to natural changes caused by puberty. But his mum "fought hard" to get Joe help and he was formally diagnosed with anorexia when he was 13. Joe said: "I would skip food, skip meals, pretend I'd eaten when I hadn't. I would wear baggy clothes, big coats to hide that I had lost weight. Get up at 4am and walk for hours and hours.
"I lost a significant amount of weight really quickly." At the worst point, aged around 13, he weighed five and a half stone. Looking back, Joe says his illness put a "huge" strain on his family. He wouldn't eat at the same time as the family or the same foods because he had to stick to meal plans. Joe's issues also "really affected" his education.
He said: "Your mind becomes illogical. I was not able to concentrate. I didn't really go back to school when I left at 12." Joe said the hardest thing now is when people talk about memories from those years. He was also unable to drive - which affected his independence.
Joe said: "My driving licence was revoked due to being unfit to drive. At the time this was due to my physical health as a result of my eating disorder. As my weight was so low at this point in my illness it had an effect on my heart, concentration and reaction times. Based on this I was advised to stop driving and my licence was revoked for a period until I was healthy enough to drive again. From memory I think it was revoked for approximately 8 months prior to my last hospital admission."
Joe Rogers is now fit and healthy (Joe Rogers/SWNS)Joe says he now a good relationship with food and exercise and is now studying psychology at the Open University. He is speaking out after a survey revealed a significant number of men who suffer from an eating disorder do not seek any help or treatment. As part of his work for Newcastle United's charity foundation, Joe regularly goes into schools to speak about his experiences as a man who has struggled with mental health problems.
He said that women talk about emotions more than men- meaning that there's a stigma that "everything's ok". The importance of speaking out was made more urgent after Joe lost his brother, Dan Rogers, to suicide two years ago. He said it spurred him on to talk about his issues - adding: "I've seen the effect mental health can have on everybody else".
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