Tuesday, 01 September 2009

• Top 8 Eating Disorder Misconceptions That Pro-Ana's Want You To Believe

  
  

  
  1. Thin Brings Happiness and Beauty. Let me just state this - thin nor skinny brings a person happiness. There are plenty of people who are that are not, and there are plenty of people who are in the bigger range who are very happy. By trying to force your body to adhere to an extreme regimen, you will become consumed with weight loss and will not be able to concentrate on much else. When you finally get to that 'goal weight', your problems will still be there - you won't be any happier. You may be smaller, but not happier. Before I went to treatment for my eating disorder I was clinically underweight, but was I happy? Far from it.
  
  2. Fat Grams Are Bad For You. [click] You need up to sixty fat grams a day, and fat grams actually help your body in many ways. Fat grams also make your body feel full so you consume less food - it's like your body has its own dieting mechinism. The less fat you consume, the more hungry you will be resulting in binging and a higher food consumption - which guess what? Leads to weight gain when it's in excess.
  
  3. Fasting is Healthy and Makes You Lose Weight. I'm not going to dispute the fact that fasting makes you lose weight - at first. But did you know that fasting actually makes you GAIN weight? [click] When you don't eat for a certain amount of time, your body goes into starvation mode. Once in that mode, any food that you consume your body will hold onto and convert into fat stores for if, and when you're starving again. [click] That way, your body will have energy to burn. i.e - The more you starve, the more fat your body will make in case it happens again. And if you're one of the girls who say "I just won't eat. Ever.", you WILL end up eating again, and when you do, prepare for significant weight gain.
  
  4. Anorexia/Bulimia Won't Effect YOU. This is what everyone tries to believe when it comes to themselves. Hell, even I tried to convince myself of it, but it's simply not true. Eating disorders have serious health consequences if you do not get help. Anything from cancer (yes, cancer), arthritis, gum disease, dehydration, depression, low blood sugar, diabetes, edema, ulcers, acid reflux, organ failure, lanugo, and osteoporosis to name a few, as well as death [click]. is it really worth it? I thought I was in the clear until I ended up in the hospital twice. The first for a suspected heart attack, and the second for sever arthritis and low potassium - which can kill you if your levels get too low. Hospital gowns and painful IV's are not glamorous, and they are not something you want, but if you continue to 'play ana' it will happen. It's just a matter of time.
  
  5. You Can Stop Whenever You Wish. Many 'ana's' will tell you that you can stop an eating disorder whenever you wish, but this is simply not true. You do NOT control it, it controls YOU. Why else do you think they get so out of control? If you could just turn on and off an eating disorder whenever you wished, there would be no need for treatment centers, and there would be no death as a result. (Eating disorders have the highest fatality rate out of any other mental illness.)
  
  6. The Media is to Blame. While the media and the 'skinny' ideal may be to blame for dieting, dieting is NOT the same as an eating disorder. [click] Eating disorders are mental illnesses, which have been proven to be sparked more so with a past instance of psychological trauma. They are about dealing, coping, and having control. [click] My eating disorder has never been about the media and trying to look 'skinny like a model.' My disorder has always been about control. Nothing else. There have been reports on anorexia as far back as the middle ages [click] in the form of 'holy anorexia', and in fact, anorexia nervosa was first diagnosed around 1870 [click], far from when there was a well known media, and long before the rise of super skinny super models such as Twiggy and Kate Moss. If there was an emergence of eating disorders as far back as the middle ages, and 1800's, where is the media to blame for this psychological disorder?
  
  7. Anyone Can Be 'AnA'! You here their cries and outright lies constantly, so why should you believe 'pro-ana's' when they claim it doesn't matter who you are, but anyone can be 'ana's slave'? The plain truth is, that you shouldn't. This is where the DSM-IV criteria comes in. The DSM is quite honestly like the Bible of mental illness. To have anorexia nervosa, the criteria states, you must meet several things; a refusal to maintain a body weight of above a BMI of 18.5, intense fear of gaining weight or maintaining weight even while underweight, and a disturbance in the way ones body is perceived. One may also have Amenorrhea; loss of menstrual cycle. [click] [click]. While the DSM should be motified in some ways, this is the criteria for a reason. So you weigh 200lbs? So you fast for a day before deciding to enjoy food too much? So you have a BMI of over 18.5? So you don't have anorexia nervosa. Granted, you may fit the classification for bulimia nervosa [click] or even ED-NOS [click], but you are not medically anoretic.
  
  8. Eating Fixes the Problem. I cannot stress this enough; just eating will not solve the problem alone. Yes, it is vital in recovery and getting better, but unless a person has help along the way in the form of therapy, treatment, and/or medication, eating will not suddenly make a person okay with eating. It will not make a person healthy again. It will not make a person suddenly cured. It goes deeper than just eating. Yes, those few more bites a day of a sandwhich each day will make it easier, but it will not cure you.
  
  
  Why are these myths ever worth believing?
  

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