To launch National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, headliner Brian Cuban shared his experience with body dysmorphic disorder at the Memorial Union on Feb. 19.

Cuban has also written a book, “Shattered Image: My Triumph Over Body Dysmorphic Disorder,” spreading the word about eating disorders.

In addition to being an author, Cuban is an activist specializing in First Amendment rights, the founder of the blog “The Cuban Revolution”, a television host for “Brian Cuban’s Legal Briefs” on EyeOpenerTV, a lawyer, a lecturer on the topic of eating disorders and has been featured on Foxnews.com, CNN.com, The Huffington Post, and even the Katie Couric show.

Cuban has spoken at the University of North Carolina Center For Eating Disorder Excellence and a plethora of universities across North America.

“I am very proud to be able to add speaking Iowa State to my list of accomplishments,” Cuban said.

Students attending his lecture took home free t-shirts and books autographed by Cuban. 

Cuban revealed his life story beginning in middle school, when he began having body image issues. He spent his early adolescence being bullied because of his weight. 

According to the Mayo Clinic, “body dysmorphic disorder is a type of chronic mental illness in which you can’t stop thinking about a flaw in your appearance — a flaw that is either minor or imagined. But to you, your appearance seems so shameful that you don’t want to be seen by anyone.”

Approximately 1 percent of the world’s population is afflicted with BDD, according to Health Research Funding. 

Cuban explained how his mindset tormented him in everything he did. He spent 27 years cycling through anorexia, bulimia, excessive exercising, drug addictions, alcoholism and suicide attempts due to his BDD. He said growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, eating disorders were not acknowledged as a problem among men.

“The disorders and addictions were all something I engaged in,” Cuban said. “I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know body dysmorphia disorder existed.”

Cuban said this is still a common theme among males today. It’s still not normal for men to come clean about their eating disorders. His goal: to eliminate the stigma that males are not victims of eating disorders.

“There’s no difference between males and females when it comes to eating disorders,” Cuban said. “We all just want to get better.”

Cuban left his audience with the point, “Everyone is touched in some way by an eating disorder, alcoholism, drug addiction, or recovery. Whether it’s yourself, your brother, your best friend, or a stranger you sit next to in class. We are all exposed to people that are suffering and we are all able to offer our empathy.”