Doncaster man recovering from anorexia after 37 years hopes to become a support worker to help others with eating disorders

He started with a crippling eating disorder when he was 13, but it took Mike Robinson two decades to accept he had a problem. The 50-year-old, from Doncaster, is now on the road to recovery from anorexia 37 years later – and is aiming to become a support worker to help others.
Laura Reid
By Laura Reid
Published 14th Mar 2023, 11:50 BST

“It took me 25 years before I accepted I had a problem,” he says. “It’s hard as a man with an eating disorder. It’s hard and and tiring. I’d get up in a morning and would be looking at calorie intakes, I’d try to be sick, I’d take laxatives, I couldn’t eat meals in front of people and I’d hide my meal in a carrier bag so I didn’t have to eat it. I’ve even hidden food from my wife. It’s a horrible, nasty illness and an illness people hide.”

Mike, who grew up in care, and went on to be a fisherman, has received help from a range of health professionals including psychiatrist nurses and dietitians who work for Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH). The trust is currently setting up a dedicated eating disorder service within its mental health teams.

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At one point, six-foot tall dad-of-seven Mike weight just 4.2 stone. “I never thought I’d be cured,” he says. “To admit and accept you have an illness is so hard, but the RDaSH service, I owe my life to them.”

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