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I’ve had the pleasure of interacting briefly with this gentleman, and believe me, he has made a priceless contribution to males with eating disorders everywhereÉ he has also helped/helps to educate the psychology profession regarding males who struggle with anorexia and bulimia. He is a gift to the world.
Article Below Taken From ediets.com
Link http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm?article_id=1489
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Bulimic Bares His Soul To Help Others
By JOHN McGRAN
Managing Editor
Looks sure are deceiving. At 38, Dennis Henning retains his ruggedly handsome features and athletic shape that landed him high-paying modeling jobs in New York City.
But what don't see is Henning's tortured soul or the inner turmoil that led to a harrowing $300-a-day food habit and a 21-year bout with deadly binge-and-purge bulimia.
In this unforgettable eDiets.com exclusive, the recovering bulimic bares his painful past to help others realize there is HOPE... and there is HELP for those wishing to control an out-of-control eating disorder.
Henning's heart-tugging tale has a happy ending. Last year, he helped co-found a miracle-working eating disorders program at picturesque Anacapa by The Sea, California.
Henning is not a clinician. But his role is every bit as important to the troubled men, women and children who come calling -- usually in a last-gasp attempt to break free of their anorexia, bulimia or other disorder. Many can relate to this soft-spoken survivor of an unbelievable food addiction.
It was an obsession that left Henning so ashamed of himself he covered every window in his plush San Francisco apartment, got rid of all mirrors and reflective surfaces, and installed a doggie door so he wouldn't have to face the steady stream of food deliverymen.
Henning says his situation got so desperate -- and his self-esteem so bad -- he rarely ventured outside his apartment. He felt and lived like an animal, sleeping and eating on the bare floor -- when he wasn't hunkered over his toilet, heaving up one meal after another.
"I've been a bulimic and compulsive eater since I was 17," Henning admits.
"I have a painful memory of one day in school when a classmate stood up and announced he was having a pizza party and everyone was invited... everyone, but Dennis Henning because he'd eat all the pizza!
"I discovered bulimia when I was 19 and about to head to New York and Tokyo for modeling jobs. I realized: Hey, throwing up is a great way to enjoy food and control my weight.
"I got to the point in a short period of time that I didn’t have to use fingers down my throat."
Ironically, Henning has never had a weight problem. He played high school sports and still maintains his 6'1", 175-pound athletic build.
"It's an emotional issue that’s what people have to understand," Henning says in a voice suddenly urgent in tone. "It's an illness... a disease that has nearly killed me twice."
Henning survived the suicide attempts he'd hoped would deaden the pain and embarrassment of his bulimia and poor self-image.
Just like a junkie, Henning stooped to shameful behavior like stealing money from his nephews' piggy banks or snatching scraps of food off the plates of others.
"I did a lot of dangerous, foolish things for food -- use your imagination," he says. "Food is the most lethal drug in the world.
"You don’t need drugs and alcohol to live, but you do need food to survive. Too many people don’t understand the purpose of food -- they abuse it and use it to control their emotional pain.
"It becomes our Novocain. If something bothered me or if I was tired, depressed or saddened, I'd eat."
Henning says the biggest hurdle he's faced in trying to educate the public about the horrors of eating disorders is the stereotype.
"Many people feel a guy has to weigh 300 pounds or be gay to suffer from an eating disorder," he says. "I’m neither. This disease affects all races, religions, cultures, and both men and women." Fresh out of rehab in 1994, Henning hooked up with a real-life guardian angel who gave his efforts focus.
Chuck Morris already offered eating disorders counseling at his addictions treatment center outside Santa Barbara. But with Henning's help, they spent the better part of the past two years launching The Lifestyle Institute for Eating Disorders.
Henning is the perfect front man. He recently shared his saga on the Leeza talk show. But like a modern-day messiah, Henning won't rest until he spreads the word of hope to the world.
"The treatment is based on my recovery so I know it works," says Henning, who's two years in recovery but still feels stress while dining out or strolling the aisles of a supermarket.
"Most people don’t understand what this disease does to you," he tells eDiets.com. "It's so emotionally draining you end up walking around like the living dead.
"It's a disease that can and will kill. We work with men and women, but offer a program within the program for men. They respond differently." The actual program and several of its success stories will be highlighted in a future issue of the eDiets.com newsletter.
Henning notes sadly that his program came too late to save an eight-year-old anorexic boy who's overworked heart gave out as he walked down the street, or the 575-pound man who died on operating table while undergoing stomach-stapling surgery.
"We're pushing a lifestyle change, not a diet," he says. "Programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers don’t deal with the underlying emotions.
"Everyone has the right to make choices and be happy. There is recovery. There is hope."
Henning, who's writing a series of children's books he calls Generation Y, sought treatment after finally realizing his life had purpose.
"It was like God knocked on my door, then let Himself in," he says. "This divine intervention gave me opportunity to reach out to my family and get help. "It wrenches your gut when you have 10- and 12-year-old looking out after you."
Henning is referring to his nephews Bo and Andrew, whose piggy banks he pilfered to feed his habit.
"No matter wherever you are and whoever you are, you are not alone... help is available," he says.
"I believe I can help others, because others have helped me. There's a reason for all of us here on Earth. People won’t survive if they don’t make a difference in their lives.
"This happens to anybody and everybody -- neighbors, daughters, sons, wives and husbands."
For further information, contact Henning at dhenning20@aol.com or by phoning 1-800-444-9999.
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While in recovery, Henning was inspired to pen more than 100 poems, covering every aspect of his return to the living. Here is the poem that has the most meaning to him.
INNER PEACE
by Dennis Henning
I awoke in a maze,
my eye's were in a glaze,
my mind was a blank,
my heart was a hole,
my skin crawled, every inch,
my body could not move,
my mouth was so dry,
my life was not.
God knocked on my door,
I could not get up,
he let himself in,
that's when my life was to begin.
Soon I could move, one moment at a time,
I opened my eyes knowing the life left behind.
God took my hand and led the way,
step by step, day by day.
I faltered along this path he had chose,
he led me to a life, why I do not know.
My eye's see the beauty of God's creation,
the earth, grass, people and his damnation.
THANK YOU LORD, for this life I had lost,
I will never lose touch, for I saw the cost.
