Each year, it is reported that one person in the UK completes suicide every 120 minutes. Most of those people are men. And suicide and eating disorders often intersect; for example, those suffering with anorexia are 31 times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population. 

Growing up, I always wanted to say that something would “unthaw” when my mom would pull it from our freezer for dinner. It was one of these words that I always used in the wrong context; I was always saying “unthaw.” Thinking about my life now, it was some sort of foreshadowing.  

Kelvin Davis is a body-positive men’s fashion blogger. He is a model for Chubbies, an admin for Eff Your Beauty Standards, a dancer, a modern-day gentleman, a style icon, and a celebrator of body positivity on Instagram. Kelvin is now an author as well, with Notoriously Dapper: How to Be a Modern Gentleman with Manners, Style, and Body Confidence coming out on October 1st. 

Teen Mom OG is a favorite guilty pleasure and it's been one of TV's highest-rated reality shows for years now. The cast invites us into their lives every week as we invite them into our homes, celebrating their highs and supporting their lows. The cast uses their hit show to bring awareness to everything from teen pregnancy to single parenting, adoption, and mental health struggles. Sharing these intimate and personal struggles is very admirable and I applaud them for their bravery. 

I used to become so depressed that I would hate myself for every little thing I perceived as a flaw. I'd spend hours daily making lists of the things I needed to work on and the things that just weren't right about me. This constant battle in my head left me never feeling good enough. I'd toss and turn in bed some nights wondering what I could do to just see myself as perfect. 

I remember being really young when I first became conscious of my unhealthy relationship with body image. It was the classic "being in elementary school" kind of thing; I was bullied for being a little chubby, having to take my shirt off in locker rooms, and being profoundly uncomfortable with day-to-day pressures. I quickly developed this false narrative that my self-worth was directly related to how skinny I was or how I looked. I couldn't imagine anyone else felt this way and didn't even think to be open about it as a teenager. 

There are a variety of myths surrounding eating disorders—myths that can make people unaware of the seriousness of the disease or even prevent people from reaching out for help.

I was 11 years old when I started struggling with my first eating disorder. I did not know what anorexia was, nor did I know that the pinching of skin folds between my fingers, under my arms, and on my stomach, was symptomatic. I did not know that it wasn’t healthy to obsess over my reflection in car windows or to hunch over to keep my waist “tucked in.” I thought it was normal. But I wasn’t always this way. A once-expansive childhood had, somehow, collapsed into a labyrinth of dietary rituals and superstitions.

I think 2017 is looking up. And I say that guardedly, knowing full well that I can always slip backwards.