Penn State Kicker Opens Up About Eating Disorder

Having laid out both Kent State’s Kavious Price and Michigan’s Jourdan Lewis, Penn State kicker Joey Julius has commanded his fair share of attention this season. Monday, the kicker used his new heightened public profile talk about how an undiagnosed eating disorder recently affected him, encouraging others struggling with similar issues to speak out.

Julius posted a lengthy statement to his Facebook page early Monday morning, in which he explained his reason for missing spring practice was an undiagnosed case of binge eating disorder. Binge eating disorder, or BED, subjects those affected to recurring spurts of consuming large quantities of food, sometimes past the point of discomfort.

In his post, the kicker thanked the Penn State coaching, training, and medical staff for supporting him, writing that prior to seeking help, both he and team physicians noticed his mental and physical states were slipping. Julius subsequently spent three months away from the team in St. Louis while undergoing treatment for the disorder.

After a long consideration of not only myself, my family, and my team I have decided to go public about my absence from the team during spring ball of 2016 and thru out this summer. I was admitted into the McCallum place on may 9th for eating disorders. Due to my increase in not only weight but also depression and anxiety my team physicians started to notice not only a change in my overall happiness but also my performance as a normal human being. Throughout this whole process I learned a lot about myself. I learned that for the last 11 years of my life I have suffered through a disorder known as binge eating disorder. Although I showed signs of bilemia through stints of purging from extreme anxiety placed on myself I am certain that binge eating disorder is my true diagnosis thru extensive care this summer for about three months of treatment in St. LOUIS Missouri until July 26th. In order to come to this conclusion I have no one to thank except for Coach James Franklin and my training staff and doctors that stuck with me throughout this whole process. They all noticed that I was not myself and that I needed extensive care such as the program in St. Louis that I attended this summer. I love Penn State and everything about this program and school and continue to do what I can to bring not only respect but honor to the name that so many before me Sacrificed to create. WE ARE PENN STATE and forever will be PENN STATE! If anyone and I mean anyone guy or girl is struggling with the the same or anything similar please message me as I will be in immediate contact to help in any way i can to provide information or insight on my struggles and I would love to help. Praise be to God and thank him for my ability to be honest about this.