Worcester man uses his past to prevent bodybuilding obsession

George Mycock said he used to push himself to "complete exhaustion" in the gym to try to get bigger muscles

A man who says he suffered depression because he could not get the muscular body he craved wants to use his experience to help others.

George Mycock, from Worcester, developed a form of body dysmorphia where people strive to become bigger.

The 27-year-old said he passed out multiple times in the gym as he strove for the body he wanted.

"It just led to these kind of severe bouts of depression and just shame and fear," he said.

Muscle dysmorphia involves people being preoccupied with building up their physique and is thought to be caused by a range of factors, the Royal College of Psychiatrists said.

About 45% of men were thought to have experienced the disorder at one point in their lives, a paper for the organisation added.

Mr Mycock said he began to develop the condition from the age of 13 and failed to seek mental health support.

Seeing images of muscular men told him "to be like the most manly man - you have to look like this", he explained.

His gym visits saw him push himself to "complete exhaustion" and he said "I used to throw up pretty much every session".

When he found he could not keep up the effort, he would lock himself in his room and binge eat "as a kind of punishment", foregoing the gym.

More than two-fifths of men have experienced muscle dysmorphia at some point in their lives, the Royal College of Psychiatrists says

Mr Mycock said he eventually sought help and was able to switch to a healthier fitness regime. He has since begun a PhD course at the University of Worcester to focus on the issues.

He has also set up a mental health support group, MyoMinds, to create podcasts about the disorder and says he wants to take advice into schools in the future.

"I get a lot of men emailing me," he said. "It's nice that I'm able to be a person that can make them feel like there's somebody else out there because I didn't [have that]," he said.

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line