So lately amongst peers my age, I've seen this huge out-break of "pro-ana" aka Pro Anorexia. They're even making Livejournal Support groups where girls go, cry about how fat they are, post their weight, what they've eaten that day, how many times they've thrown up, etc.
Example
It really worries me, and in truth, sickens me a bit because I'm really good friends with some girls involved in this nonsense, and none of them need to be. My niece, for example, is 14 years old, barely 5 feet tall, and a model. She works for Studio 1, but it wasn't until after she'd already been accepted and GRADUATED the classes that she got into anorexia. I've tried talking to her about it, tried getting her to see how pretty she already is... Her girlfriend is no help, her girlfriend chooses to support any decision my niece makes, no matter right or wrong.
These girls will post blogs and bulletins and journals with lists of why not to eat. They're have month long "boot camps" where they set a certain amount of calories each day to eat for that month, with fasting days thrown in.
I really don't understand this scene. How it could possibly be attractive. I mean, it's a disease. They're celebrating cultivating disorders. People get hospitalized for this crap, and they're supporting and encouraging it.
What are your thoughts?
Wow...
Moderators: Mystic Dragon, Xalia, Shard
Oh my...
Well, first of all, let me stress that no matter what they complain about, anorexia, bulimia, and bulimorexia are /not/ about weight. They may start out about weight, they may even sound like they're about weight, but the long and short of it is that they're not. Telling a person who suffers from one of these disorders that they're pretty and thin doesn't do any good, and most of them don't really understand /why/ they're doing it, just that they have to.
Most of them don't realize that the disorder is a long slow form of suicide, they only know that they feel better when they don't eat, when they exercise beyond their body's limits, when they stuff themselves full of enough food to feed a family of four for a week and then purge it from their body.
That there are sites out there that support this very dangerous disorder saddens me. A community for them to share their issues and try to work past it I would support, but a community for them to get together and support each other in their warped body image and encourage each other to not eat? *shakes head*
And that's all I'm going to say because I don't want to get up on a soap-box and start preaching... XP
Well, first of all, let me stress that no matter what they complain about, anorexia, bulimia, and bulimorexia are /not/ about weight. They may start out about weight, they may even sound like they're about weight, but the long and short of it is that they're not. Telling a person who suffers from one of these disorders that they're pretty and thin doesn't do any good, and most of them don't really understand /why/ they're doing it, just that they have to.
Most of them don't realize that the disorder is a long slow form of suicide, they only know that they feel better when they don't eat, when they exercise beyond their body's limits, when they stuff themselves full of enough food to feed a family of four for a week and then purge it from their body.
That there are sites out there that support this very dangerous disorder saddens me. A community for them to share their issues and try to work past it I would support, but a community for them to get together and support each other in their warped body image and encourage each other to not eat? *shakes head*
And that's all I'm going to say because I don't want to get up on a soap-box and start preaching... XP
Jesus.
I think .... if their family doctor is available to look at websites, email em. Psychologists and physicians need to intervene, even if it means the family is blamed for a while.
*shakes head* There really is something wrong these days. :/
I think .... if their family doctor is available to look at websites, email em. Psychologists and physicians need to intervene, even if it means the family is blamed for a while.
*shakes head* There really is something wrong these days. :/
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I saw a documentary on an English girl who was just on the border of being dangerous. Luckily she got out of it when summer vacation ended, but really. I was surprised by how easy it all went, how much support she got from peers in those groups and how her parents didn't really notice...
I know it's not about weight, but it's a thing that gets talked about a lot among girls. I remember those awful gymn classes in which just everybody complained about their weight :p And you could see their ribs too! It was really weird for someone like me who is more than a bit overweight...
Basically they need to learn to love themselves again as they are. But it's really hard because all they feel they can control in their life is their weight (well that's just the general picture, there're bound to be exceptions). Most likely something bad will happen before she actually starts to consider getting help. My professional opinion would be to give her support, let her know you think it's dangerous but that you're there for her and hope that she'll one day come to you and ask for help... I'm not really that good with the anorectic crowd, I should look up more about it in my textbooks.
I know it's not about weight, but it's a thing that gets talked about a lot among girls. I remember those awful gymn classes in which just everybody complained about their weight :p And you could see their ribs too! It was really weird for someone like me who is more than a bit overweight...
Basically they need to learn to love themselves again as they are. But it's really hard because all they feel they can control in their life is their weight (well that's just the general picture, there're bound to be exceptions). Most likely something bad will happen before she actually starts to consider getting help. My professional opinion would be to give her support, let her know you think it's dangerous but that you're there for her and hope that she'll one day come to you and ask for help... I'm not really that good with the anorectic crowd, I should look up more about it in my textbooks.
I guess in my niece's situation, it would be an attempt at control because her family is so out of control. She lives with her bed-ridden grandmother [who never leaves the hospital-issued bed in the living room], has never known her father, and her mother constantly tells her she's dead to her, but still comes around every few weeks to give my niece money. I can't really think of anything else she'd be trying to be in control of.
And like I said, she's a model. She's not even big to begin with. She's danced her whole life, and in my opinion, has a very nicely toned dancer's body. She's got a little fluff around the hips, but it's the good kind, you know?
I just don't understand how it's grown so cult-ish. I mean, at one point in time, wasn't it something to hide and be almost embarrassed about?
They ask each other to go on week long liquid diets together! I'm sorry, but when I want to do something with my friends, we go to the mall or the movies together or something. We don't starve ourselves O.o
And like I said, she's a model. She's not even big to begin with. She's danced her whole life, and in my opinion, has a very nicely toned dancer's body. She's got a little fluff around the hips, but it's the good kind, you know?
I just don't understand how it's grown so cult-ish. I mean, at one point in time, wasn't it something to hide and be almost embarrassed about?
They ask each other to go on week long liquid diets together! I'm sorry, but when I want to do something with my friends, we go to the mall or the movies together or something. We don't starve ourselves O.o
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I usually go eat with my friends, not keep myself from it O.o
I don't think it's something to hide among likeminded people. With the internet it's easy to find people who think like you even if what you think is something relatively rare. On that documentary I mentioned they showed tons of sites with (photoshopped) pictures of models who'd been worked to show their ribs and bones through to make them look even skinnier than models generally already are. It's hard to see anything attractive in it (like you would not find a skull attractive).
On these sites they post pictures and tell everyone how good they've been keeping their diets and people will actually praise them for dropping yet another kilo they can't afford to lose. That praise strengthens their self-view and makes them think they're doing the right thing. They feel better because of the praise they get from dieting, so they continue doing it to keep getting the praise. Which is really sad because I hope everyone has at least 1 thing they get praised for.
I don't think it's something to hide among likeminded people. With the internet it's easy to find people who think like you even if what you think is something relatively rare. On that documentary I mentioned they showed tons of sites with (photoshopped) pictures of models who'd been worked to show their ribs and bones through to make them look even skinnier than models generally already are. It's hard to see anything attractive in it (like you would not find a skull attractive).
On these sites they post pictures and tell everyone how good they've been keeping their diets and people will actually praise them for dropping yet another kilo they can't afford to lose. That praise strengthens their self-view and makes them think they're doing the right thing. They feel better because of the praise they get from dieting, so they continue doing it to keep getting the praise. Which is really sad because I hope everyone has at least 1 thing they get praised for.
The problem root may be the praise comes from the wrong sources, or for the wrong reasons - or not at all from the right people.
Though I would never turn to such a thing for my self-image boost, my mom's never praised me much at all - from when I was a child on to now, and of course now she's got alzheimer's and is starting to simply yell at me again *the way she did when she was in menopause and i was in adolescence*. So... yeah it's rough.
I suspect that some of these girls come from families who praise the wrong things: hair, makeup, clothes. Plastic people who value appearance over substance. or, perhaps, who are more demanding than some about things like grades, posture, 'perfection'. An unattainable goal of course - who can be perfect? Most 'perfect' people I've heard of wind up angry, bitter, mistrustful and hurt by the time they're adults, and generally screw up worse after that. ((Some of course, wind up being perfect nice people all along, ..... and ya just wanna kill em... lol))
Though I would never turn to such a thing for my self-image boost, my mom's never praised me much at all - from when I was a child on to now, and of course now she's got alzheimer's and is starting to simply yell at me again *the way she did when she was in menopause and i was in adolescence*. So... yeah it's rough.
I suspect that some of these girls come from families who praise the wrong things: hair, makeup, clothes. Plastic people who value appearance over substance. or, perhaps, who are more demanding than some about things like grades, posture, 'perfection'. An unattainable goal of course - who can be perfect? Most 'perfect' people I've heard of wind up angry, bitter, mistrustful and hurt by the time they're adults, and generally screw up worse after that. ((Some of course, wind up being perfect nice people all along, ..... and ya just wanna kill em... lol))
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