EastEnders have confirmed that Ben Mitchell, played by Max Bowden, will be the centre of an eating disorder storyline in the coming months.
Ben has faced a series of heartbreaking events in his life and is struggling to cope. The BBC soap has been working alongside Beat on the storyline that will see Ben struggle with bulimia.
Over the last year, Ben has faced various catastrophic events which have significantly impacted his mental health such as Lola Pearce's (Danielle Harold) terminal cancer diagnosis.
Ben is trying to stay strong for his family as Lola’s health deteriorates but as he battles to take control his own mental health spirals and he starts to restrict aspects of his lifestyle, specifically exercise and food, writes The Mirror.
The soap has worked closely with leading charity Beat on the storyline to ensure it is portrayed as accurately and as sensitively as possible.
Chris Clenshaw, Executive Producer, said of the storyline: “It was vital for us to work alongside Beat to accurately present, and sensitively portray Ben’s bulimia storyline.
"Max’s [Bowden] performance has thoughtfully portrayed the isolating reality of an eating disorder with compassion and understanding as we explore how the traumatic events of Ben’s past have affected his mental health.”
Tom Quinn, Director of External Affairs at Beat added: “One in four people with an eating disorder are men, but it's rare to see storylines that show how men are affected by these serious mental illnesses.
“At Beat we welcome that EastEnders has chosen to highlight this important issue and we've been pleased to review scripts, to help ensure bulimia is represented in a sensitive and accurate way.
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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