Deerfield, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/06/2013 -- Eating Disorders are not limited to women only; men also feel pressure to live up to the societal standards of body image that is portrayed in the media.   Brian Cuban, lawyer, activist, talk show host and the younger brother of Dallas Mavericks owner and entrepreneurial billionaire, Mark Cuban, provided a rare male perspective and first-hand account of the disease that almost took his life when he talked with Melanie Cole, MS, host of Staying Well on RadioMD.com.

Cuban revealed that he suffered from self-esteem issue throughout his early life due to a weight problem.  The low self-esteem issue was exacerbated when, as an 18-year old freshman at Penn State, a pretty co-ed remarked out loud that Brian was really ugly.

“On that day, I started to take control, but I did it all wrong.  I internalized my feelings and began to starve myself, which lead to a severe eating disorder and drug abuse.  My weight dropped from 260 to 170 and I almost died.  I had reached rock bottom,”’ admitted Cuban.

Psychiatric counselling helped turn his life around, but not before his eating disorder lead to a chronic heart problem.

“Men especially find eating disorders to be too shameful to discuss so don’t overlook the warning signs, recognizing that this illness does not discriminate on the basis of gender.  Typically children do not isolate themselves for no reason. This might be a sign of bullying or self-image problems,” added Cuban. .

If these signs are present, he urged parents to do research and seek advice from experts before confronting a child they suspect has an eating disorder.

“You can’t talk to your child until you understand the issues,” concluded Cuban.

http://radiomd.com/show/staying-well/item/11344-brian-cuban-shares-his-eating-disorder-struggle

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