Penn State football player Joey Julius is courageously stepping forward in the public eye as he takes on his own mental health challenge — one that has come in the form of an eating disorder.
The place-kicker, who is also known for laying big hits on returners, posted on Facebook Friday that he has been absent from spring football activities because he has returned to St. Louis to seek treatment for binge-eating disorder.
Julius first went public with his struggles last fall. The 22-year-old said he has had trouble with depression, anxiety, and binge eating for over a decade.
Now in for another round of treatment, Julius has the intention of returning to school and the football field as soon as he’s healthy again.
“I have been struggling over the last couple months with my eating disorder. It got to the point where I had to return to St. Louis to seek further treatment at the McCallum place. Recovery is a wonderful and beautiful thing that I am working on returning too.”
STATE COLLEGE, PA – SEPTEMBER 3: Joey Julius
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, binge eating disorder (BED) is the most common form of eating disorder, and among those afflicted, 40% are men.
In the general population, about 3.5% of women and 2.0% of men have BED during their lifetime, which makes it more common than breast cancer, HIV, and schizophrenia.
Julius intends to launch a blog as a way to share his progress going forward.
“For anyone out there that has similar struggles I hope you too can seek help in some way. Your feelings should be completely validated and I wish you all the best in your search for recovery. Just as an update I am doing well and the treatment is helping. There is light at the end of the tunnel. It is just a very long tunnel.”
Take a look at this feature ESPN did on him:
Talk about one tough football player.
