A powerful, new television programme on eating disorders entitled Anorexia, My Family & Me will air tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and RT Player.
The compelling documentary is narrated by Angela Scanlon, who herself has overcome the challenges of an eating disorder. Produced by the team behind the sensitive and deeply moving Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost, this documentary delves into the lives of Irish families grappling with the profound effects of anorexia.
With cases of eating disorders in Ireland on the rise this urgent documentary contains unprecedented access to unfolding stories, presenting the raw and emotional experiences of families across the country. We meet 16-year-old Josh, 42-year-old dad of four Sean, 36-year-old Amanda and their families who offer a personal look at the realities of living with this most fatal of mental health conditions.
We meet a Wicklow based mum Jenny fighting tirelessly to secure treatment for her 16-year-old son, Josh, who is consistently losing weight as he battles the devastating grip of anorexia.
Speaking about his eating disorder Josh explains, It's just very dangerous. Everything in your body that makes it tick could start to drop. And if some of them drop too low, it's very big, fatal risks that can come with it. I'm feeling pretty scared and disappointed in myself because I feel like I was the one who let this happen.
During the course of the documentary viewers will see Josh hospitalized for 67 days before he is discharged to the family home. His mum Jenny says: No amount of almost begging at that stage to get Josh to eat was working and I couldn't get in there, you know, get into whatever was starting to build up around Josh. I couldn't get in. I never thought that anorexia would come into our home. I had no idea what was going to happen.
Josh describes his hospital stay, I needed to go into the hospital to try and just help with getting myself back into a healthier place. Physically, I probably wouldn't have lasted too much longer. In one day, I would probably have collapsed seven times. I would have massive gaps in my memory and I would have like, no ability to move. Sometimes, like, I believe that it's good to try and eat to get better, but there's still a part of me that's being dragged down like, no, it's not. And so I do still feel very conflicted and being pulled at both ends to try to eat or not.
Josh's mum Jenny articulates her worries for Josh and his two sisters: There's a definite feeling that you're headed to battle most days. None of this is sustainable. Like, we have no idea what this malnutrition has done to Josh's brain. I worry that the girls are so deeply affected by this, that it could result in one of them getting an eating disorder, both of them getting an eating disorder. Mental health services are so stretched that they just can't help every child. It's so difficult to get into the service because there's so many children who are trying to get in. Had Josh gotten into the service sooner, would we be here? I don't know.
Busting commonly held misconceptions around those who suffer from the condition we meet 42-year-old father of four Sean from Swords has battled anorexia for over a decade. His struggle with the disorder, including an addiction to running, nearly consumed him before he found the lifesaving help he desperately needed. We follow his tentative steps in his recovery journey.
Sean says, I don't remember when I could last wear my wedding ring on my wedding finger. Over the years, it became so loose that it would fall off. It's closure in a way that I'm going to wear this wedding ring. It's another big step for me in recovery. Even since I've started recovery and I know I do look better and I have put on weight, people still look at you and think, oh, he's great. Look, he's doing well, you're doing well, but they don't know what's going on inside your head.
Sean explains how he became addicted to running, I could have been out any night running and drop dead. I was just completely gone. Walking upstairs was tough. Very light headed all the time. Memory gone. In so much hunger pain. You run more. You want to be nothing. You want to just be as thin. It's because you just want to disappear. Because you don't believe that you are worthy.
We also follow 36-year-old Amanda and her mother Doreen. Suffering with the condition for over a decade, we are on Amanda's shoulder as she lives with the constant debilitating daily reality of anorexia. Her condition is so entrenched that she is often on the verge of hospitalisation, offering a stark reminder of the life-threatening nature of the disorder.
Amanda admits, Doctors have told me that I'm going to die if this continues.
In one scene viewers watch Amanda struggle to drink a food supplement. She says, Just my head, just like. Even though it's like small looks. Only small. you feel kind of guilty for having it? Because your head is telling you that you're already fat and you don't need it. You don't need extra calories and you don't. So yeah, just an argument in my head all time.
Amanda's mother Doreen worries about her collapsing in her bedroom I look at her sometimes I think she doesn't look well, but then I don't open my mouth to her. If I say anything she'll get annoyed. You know she'd (say), there's nothing wrong with me. What do you do from there? You know. Like it is sad. Don't get me wrong. I'd be brokenhearted over her. I just want her to get better. I don't want to get upset because I don't want to upset her. but that's just the way it is. Whatever happened to her I want it to go away and give who she was back to us.
Amanda recounts a hospi
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Like the immortal lives of vampires, some stories never really end. That's t...
06/04/2026
As podcasting continues to evolve, growth increasingly means building beyond aud...
06/04/2026
Multiband dynamics plug-in enhanced
California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processo...
06/04/2026
Share official & user-created full-rig presets
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX update makes it possible for users of the popular amp and effects modelling ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
06/04/2026
Wayne, N.J., April 6th, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the release of PCC 4...
06/04/2026
April 6th, 2026
TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...
06/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...
05/04/2026
Tackles all reported bugs!
SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboratio...
04/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
04/04/2026
1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...
04/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
04/04/2026
Faster, cleaner and more intuitive than ever
The control software for Flock Audio's digitally controlled patchbay systems has just been treated to an up...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...
04/04/2026
Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...
04/04/2026
Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
03/04/2026
Avid will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Booth N2226, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating its Content Core platform and new AI-driven workflow c...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has announced the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer.
The announcement follows MRMC's transition fro...
03/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its BATON file-based QC solution for media workflows. Elite Media Technologies speciali...
03/04/2026
Ateme has announced that Moldtelecom has deployed Ateme technologies across its streaming workflow, covering encoding, delivery, operations, and analytics.
Mol...
03/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate Framelight X, its content management platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform connects capture, ingest, editing, and publishing in...
03/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media and Techex have announced a cloud-native Master Control ...
A powerful, new television programme on eating disorders entitled Anorexia, My Family & Me will air tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and RT Player.
