A MAN has documented his ten-year battle with anorexia since being discharged from St Ann’s eating disorder unit.

Harry Nye, 26, set up a podcast alongside his mum, Jacqueline, to raise awareness of what eating disorders look and feel like for a sufferer and the impacts the illness has on families.

The weekly podcast Why Weight to Change? is recorded at their home in Christchurch and covers ‘emotionally challenging topics,’ relating to anorexia for individuals and carers.

Jacqueline said: “We hope the podcast can enhance people’s understanding of ED’s (eating disorders) devastating effects and thereby increase the paucity of support available those afflicted by this most life-threatening mental illness.”

Harry’s first trigger occurred when he was 17 after someone made a ‘nasty’ and ‘untrue’ comment about his physique. Following this, he became fixated on healthy eating and exercise before it spiralled out of control.

On May 7, 2024, Harry’s anorexia “reached it’s lowest point,” when he was admitted to St Ann’s eating disorder unit. He was the first man to be admitted into this unit.

Harry said: “To put into context how much pain I was in, I would struggle to walk, my legs would buckle underneath me.”

After being discharged on June 17, Harry and Jacqueline decided they needed to ‘get men talking’.

Jacqueline said: “Fundamentally, this is what it’s about; it’s a tragic, hateful, horrible illness which rips through families.

“Our intention is to help carers particularly and show that eating disorders are not gender specific.

“We point out that we are not clinicians or qualified ED specialists, but we merely attempt to help others in our position understand the complexities of an eating disorder, in order to encourage others to seek intervention as early as possible.”

(Image: Submitted)

The podcast enabled Harry to “reclaim his life by finding purpose and fulfilment outside of an eating disorder, by helping others”.

Since being discharged from St Ann’s, Harry has found fulfilment in creative pursuits, including sports writing, content creation and art.

His Instagram account @harrynyeillustarions has nearly 3k followers.