I am writing about eating disordered websites on the internet because I want to find out how pro-ana websites have increased eating disordered thoughts in order to help my reader better understand that even the general public can be affected by pro-ana blogs.
Can the general public be affected by pro-ana blogs without developing an eating disorder? I intend to prove that it is possible to be affected by pro-ana blogs and not develop an eating disorder. Pro-ana is a common term used to indicate that the website will have thin inspiration (thinspo) in the form of images, quotes or weight loss progress. Many pro-ana websites have introduced forums and chat rooms for members to submit posts that include techniques that work for hiding the disorder and low calorie meals. Contrary to popular belief, eating disorders do not have very much to do with eating, they are a psychiatric diagnosis that has more to do with how the person perceives themselves as “fat” and wants to lose weight until they get to the “perfect” weight. Many blogs and websites that are pro-ana have a disclaimer that they are not “pro-ana” but “pro-disscussion” for those with eating disorders, whether they want to be healthy or dig themselves deeper into the eating disorder. In a culture that airbrushes images from ads to school pictures, and focuses on which celebrity has gained or lost weight since they were last seen in public, we get bombarded with images of “perfection” and sometimes cannot differentiate the size of a healthy person compared to their airbrushed body. For the remainder of my proposal/paper I will refer to people with eating disorders as patients because men can also have eating disorders.
Eating disorders have been present for an undetermined amount of time as no two sources viewed so far have established a clear year, or century, of the first documented eating disorder. One source believes eating disorders were first described in the 17th century (Gehlin), whilst another counts the 13th century (Kuehnel) as the birth of eating disorders. No two patients have the same reason for the onset of their eating disorder, nor does any treatment work the same on each patient. A source stated that “frequently cultural influences play an important role in disordered eating [symptomology] and development”. To be diagnosed with an eating disorder you meet the criteria for said disorder. The criteria for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are strict and require all of the criteria to be met for the diagnosis of anorexia or bulimia. Those who do not fit into either diagnosis have been given the diagnosis of Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS). The strict criteria makes the diagnosing of the disorders complicated and many people with eating disordered thoughts do not get the therapy that they need. Eating disordered thoughts, in the case of this proposal/paper are thoughts about losing weight quickly (ex. Wedding), about how certain body parts are sub par to the standards you have been told by society (ex. disliking the size of ones thighs), ideas on how to lose weight that are unhealthy and could be a hazard to ones health (ex. extreme fasting)
[interesting facts that are not part of my topic proposal, but are still interesting anyway.]
disclaimer: do not read if you bore easily and just want to get the comment on my blog so you can move on. :)
- In my years of being an avid pro-ana blogger, I came across quite a few weight loss blogs of people who claimed they wished they could have an eating disorder because it would make them lose weight faster. Back then, I snickered at them for not being "strong" enough to attempt to perfect their body image. Now, I wish I could go to each and every one of them and tell them that having an eating disorder doesn't make it any easier to lose weight, it just makes you want to lose more weight than before, and will distort what you see in the mirror to make you keep working at perfection.
- There is a disorder for those who constantly worry about body image flaws that are either minor or imaginary, Body Dysmorphic Disorder. (I am a contender in the BDD wrestling ring).
- Being diagnosed EDNOS can sometimes traumatize the person with the diagnosis because they believe they should fit into one category or the other and feel like their “work” in that disorder has not been noticed by the psychiatrist or doctor who made the diagnosis. (Those patients will sometimes come out of their doctors office on the ED unit and scream and shout about how they are anorexic. Those patients have also accused me of picking a movie for movie night that directly offends them in unimaginable ways).
- Extreme fasting is almost a sport for people with ED. We try to see who can go the longest without having anything with calories, drinking only water and taking vitamins. Some patients will pick a fruit and a healthy caloric beverage as the only items to be consumed during the fast, which is an acceptable form of fasting. I was an extreme faster but was never able to go more than [x] hours (we aren't allowed to talk about numbers, they can be triggering to me and other patients on the unit) without eating, partially because my mom wants our family to have family dinners as much as possible, but also because I am weak (just kidding)-- when I began to black out, I decided I had done enough and deserved a few calories.
- Scary story time: At the ED unit I was admitted to, they take your picture when you first arrive and then let you see it before you leave. One young adult came in via wheelchair because her weight was so low that her body could not support itself (think 24 year old woman, 4'11" with the weight of an average seven year old). When I was admitted, she had already been in the hospital for two months and stayed another month or so before being discharged at the average weight of a twelve year old.
- This topic is what I am most passionate writing about, but also the most triggering topic on the face of this earth. I could write for years about foods and what kind of people eat them, but as soon as you throw in the ED part, I am brought back to all of the experiences I had before, during, and after my stay on the unit. I am brought back to thinking about all the things I did to hide my disorder, and how long I was able to keep it before anybody began to notice something was wrong (Four and a half years). I am reminded of the intense feelings of hopelessness and self doubt. But I want to write about this topic more than anything because once this research paper is finally finished (AMST490?) I will have a huge weight off of my shoulders. The weight of having once owned my own pro-ana blog which gave the wrong kind of inspiration to girls and boys who looked at it, and I wonder if they ever will get the help they need.
- A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5 – 10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years and only 30 – 40% ever fully recover. (http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm)
Sources:
Gehlin, Linda. "The History Of Anorexia Nervosa and other Eating Disorders."Web4Health. N.p., 05 Aug
2008. Web. 19 Oct 2011. <http://web4health.info/en/answers/ed-anorexia-history.htm>.
Kuehnel, Deborah J. "History of Eating Disorders."Eating Disorder Recovery Center. edrecover.com, 1998. Web. 19 Oct 2011. <http://www.addictions.net/id107.html>.
