Sam Thomas is an award winning mental health campaigner, writer and public speaker. He lives in Brighton and is in recovery from bulimia and alcohol addiction. 

I first found Sam in Happiful Magazine, where he's a contributor on mental health issues.

What is bulimia?

Sam is very open in this podcast episode about how his experiences of eating disorders began. Listen to the podcast to hear his very straightforward explanation of how he first began bingeing and purging.

Boys and bulimia

What's really interesting is Sam's point about how eating disorders were always seen as a 'girl' thing. It meant that getting help was even more difficult because of the stigma of being a boy with bulimia. After his recovery, Sam started a social media campaign #mengeteatingdisorderstoo to raise awareness of the lack of community support for boys and men dealing with bulimia or anorexia.

Why do eating disorders happen?

I also had a lightbulb moment when Sam explained that eating disorders are really not about weight. Listen to the podcast to hear his perspective explained so parents can understand what their child is going through, and how best to help.

Where to find help with bulimia

• BEAT has information and a confidential helpline
• Access CAMHS through your own GP
• Read more from Sam in Happiful Magazine
• You can find Sam on Twitter

More teen mental health resources

There are lots more episodes of the Teenage Kicks podcast – do have a browse and see if I’ve covered anything else you might find useful. And if you have a suggestion of something you’d like to see talked about on the podcast please do email me on teenagekickspodcast@gmail.com I have loads more fabulous guests coming up to help families navigate some of the most complicated – but wonderful – teenage parenting years. I’ve also got some posts on the blog that might help parents with other teenage parenting dilemmas, so do pop over to Actually Mummy if you fancy a read.

Thank you so much for listening! Subscribe now to the Teenage Kicks podcast to hear all my new episodes. I'll be talking to some fabulous guests about difficult things that happened to them as teenagers - including losing a parent, becoming a young carer, and being hospitalised with mental health problems - and how they overcame things to move on with their lives.

I'd love it if you'd rate and review the podcast on iTunes too - it would really help other people to find it. You can also find more from me on parenting teenagers on my blog Actually Mummy, and on Instagram and Twitter @iamhelenwills.

For information on your data privacy please visit Podcast.co.

Please note that I am not a medical expert, and nothing in this podcast should be taken as medical advice.