Tuesday, 7 October 2008

Why is "my, you're skinny!" okay when "my, you're fat!" isn't?

Anorexia.



Bulimia.


Extreme Dieting.


Pro Anorexia.


Pro Bulimia.


Starvation.



You read about it in the newspaper, you hear about it on the news, you know what it is. But do you actually understand it? Do you know what it's like to look in the mirror and not like what you see? To feel that you are "too fat" and "need to loose weight" even though you look like a walking skeleton to others?
Anorexia Nervosa is a mental illness caused by bad thoughts.
Bulimia Nervosa is a mental illness caused by bad thoughts.
Extreme Dieting is a fancier description of literally trying to kill yourself by preventing yourself from eating.
Ever felt an urge to run after you've been eating? What if you haven't been eating? Ever carried weights in your clothes to appear heavier if you weigh yourself? Hrm, you might want to check that...
How about throwing up? Ever done that on purpose? You know, with fingers, laxatives, ipecac? After a meal? Have a hard time keeping it down after eating? Feel that it's okay to binge-eat if you get it out of your system afterwards? Ouchie...
Ever looked at a cord and wondered if it's possible to scrape your throat with it? To get wounds in there would surely prevent you from eating! Or you could always eat cotton - that outta stop those feelings of hunger! (Just make sure you don't suffocate from them getting stuck in your throat.) You know, if worst comes to worst - there's always bloodletting. Who needs blood anyway, right?
Starvation as a mental illness isn't about looks. It's about feelings. Since your thoughts control you, you decide to control your intake of food. It's a shame you don't realise that the thoughts control that too. You don't control anything when you stop eating like that. The mental illness controls you. No matter where you go it will still control you so to quote someone - "friends in need are friends indeed". Think about it.

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