Anti Ana

Muestras y síntomas del autismo y de la depresión

2008-08-02T04:12:41Z

El autismo es un desorden neurológico que causa inhabilidades de desarrollo. Aparece generalmente para el momento en que un niño sea 3 años.

El autismo afecta a cada persona diferentemente en sus efectos negativos sobre la comunicación verbal y no verbal, interacciones sociales, e incluso la capacidad de jugar. Algunos niños con autismo pueden ser muy brillantes aunque muchos tengan condiciones secundarias tales como retraso mental o asimientos. Qué está careciendo en todos los niños con autismo, aunque, es su capacidad de relacionarse con el mundo y la otra gente la manera el resto de nosotros hacer. No ven las cosas la misma manera. No responden la misma manera. No cogen las mismas pistas que lo hacemos.

Los padres pueden comenzar a notar que su niño no se comporta como otros niños. Pueden ser lenta, a menudo muy lento, hablar. La mayoría de los niños comienzan normalmente palabras de discurso una vez que hacen años y utilizan oraciones simples alrededor de dos. Los niños con autismo pudieron no haber dicho una palabra durante este tiempo, y los padres pudieron preocuparse que su niño es audiencia - deteriorada.

Los niños con autismo no sonríen ni pueden a menudo tener dificultad el hacer del contacto visual. No responden a menudo a su propio nombre. Es como si los padres o la otra gente no están incluso allí.

Pueden hacer obsesiva, jugando con solamente un juguete por horas, o exhiba el comportamiento obligatorio, repetidor tal como oscilación en el lugar o mirar fijamente sus manos por largos periodos del tiempo. Los ruidos normales o el cambio pueden ser intolerables.

El desarrollo de niño varía grandemente, así que puede tardar el tiempo para que los padres realicen que su niño no se está comportando la manera otros cabritos que es su edad. Los padres deben compartir siempre cualquier preocupación con el pediatra de su niño que puede cualquiera tranquilizarla que ella el comportamiento del niño es normal o investigarla más lejos. En el caso de no hablar, el doctor puede pedir una prueba de audiencia. Después de todo, si el niño tiene un problema - lo que es - cuanto más pronto se diagnostica y se trata, el mejor.

No hay pruebas específicamente para el autismo, sin embargo. Las pruebas se funcionan con para comprobar para saber si hay otras cosas, tales como análisis de sangre, EEGs, MRIs, tan bien como la prueba de audiencia mencionada anterior, para considerar si hay otras explicaciones. La determinación de autismo es realmente más de un esfuerzo del equipo, aunque, con su pediatra así como los especialistas pediátricos (tales como un neurólogo, un psicólogo y un discurso y un terapeuta de la lengua) observando el comportamiento de su niño.

El diagnóstico de autismo es temprano esencial porque los niños con autismo benefician, a menudo grandemente, del tratamiento especializado de los doctores, de los terapeutas y de los profesores entrenados para trabajar con los niños con autismo, y el tratamiento anterior comienza, el mejor.

Sobre el autor: Lea el tratamiento de Alzheimer. También compruebe hacia fuera para saber si hay remedios herbarios para la ansiedad y los ataques de ansiedad

Saving Your Skin.With Green Tea
what does reflex sympathetic dystrophy mean

anti_ana @ 2008-05-25T11:53:00

2008-05-25T15:53:26Z

My apologies if this post is somehow inappropriate, but I thought members of this community might be interested. This has also been cross-posted to a few different lj communities, so I apologize if you're seeing this more than once.

I was sick of all the "yay ~*~ana~*~ let's fast until we die!" ED-related communities here on lj, so I created a community dedicated to positive ED-related challenges. ed_positivity

The community is a direct corollary to all of the ed challenge communities on lj that promote negative and unhealthy challenges that only serve to immerse you further in your disorder. The focus is on more positive health-oriented challenges (such as reducing the amount of times one weighs oneself, meal plan compliance, trying to eat healthier, etc.). The community is not strictly recovery-oriented and members in any stage of an ED are encouraged to join.

You know how members in pro-ana communities will post in order to get support from others in going on group fasts, doing the insanely low calorie suicide diet together, and generally self-destructing? The purpose of this community is to apply the same principle to more constructive behaviors. Members are encouraged to post when they're trying to do something positive for themselves and hopefully get support in their endeavors. The idea of using online support to reach your goals within pro-ana communities is actually a good one-- the only problem is users are supporting one another's destruction, not health. Hopefully we can apply the concept here with more positive outcomes. Eventually, I hope that the community can become somewhat self-sustaining (as many pro-ana communities are) with users posting challenges and others joining in, but there will also be mod started challenge threads and potentially themes at some point in the future.

You do not have to be in recovery to join or even in a very positive mindset, all we require is that you are interested in making more positive changes in your life.

The community might be triggering to those in recovery as I haven't banned the use of numbers as I think one encounters them a lot in the real world and part of recovery is learning to deal with this, but members are required to put any triggering information (including weight/numbers/etc.) behind an lj-cut, along with information as to why the post might be triggering and all posts are being moderated to make sure they comply with the rules.

This community is very much in its infancy and any suggestions are greatly appreciated, but I think it has vast potential. If you're interested I encourage you to join.

(Mods, if there's anything wrong with this post please let me know and/or feel free to delete it.)

Professor, 49, died from anorexia

2008-04-22T17:06:41Z

A senior university lecturer weighed less than five stone when she died from an eating disorder, an inquest heard.

Prof Rosemary Pope, pro-vice chancellor at Bournemouth University with a background in health and psychology, died as a result of anorexia nervosa.
Her weight had dropped to 4st 10lb (30kg) when she was found dead at home in Sandy Mead Road on 21 March.
East Dorset coroner Sheriff Payne recorded a verdict of death by natural causes contributed to by self neglect.
He said he was sure Prof Pope must have been aware of the consequences of failing to provide herself with adequate nutrition.
Her brother Christopher and his son found her body.
Speaking after the inquest in Bournemouth, another brother, Michael, said the pair had tried to raise the subject of her illness.
"Christopher and I are devastated by Rosemary's death," he said.
"Although she had suffered from an eating disorder intermittently for some years, she was an incredibly energetic, enthusiastic and capable person carrying on work at the highest level.
"We find it hard to understand how she was able to carry on at all times without any interference or disruption to her life and work despite her low levels of nutrition.
"She was one of the most irrepressible and determined people you could meet.
"We were very aware about her eating disorder and although we raised the subject with her from time to time, it was clear to us it could damage our relationship with her and could be detrimental to her if we pushed too hard.
'Tragic loss'
"She was unable to hear what we had to say and we find this distressing."
The hearing was told that Prof Pope, who had suffered from the slimming disease since her teens, would only eat fruit or sweets in public and had lost about 1.5st (10kg) between her death and when she last visited the doctor in July 2007.
The university's vice-chancellor, Professor Paul Curran, said her death was a "tragic loss".
He added: "Personally, I will miss her unqualified devotion to Bournemouth University and all of us will miss her boundless enthusiasm, her unwavering focus on our students."
Prof Pope, who was a professor of education with a professional background in health and a PhD in psychology, joined the university in June 2006.
She was also a trustee of the General Nursing Council Trust for England and Wales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/7360470.stm

Prescott tells of bulimia battle

2008-04-20T09:23:18Z

Ex-deputy prime minister John Prescott has confessed to suffering from the eating disorder bulimia.

[I am only posting a link because some of the text might be triggering to people who suffer from EDs.]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7357008.stm

I think it's great people are "giving a voice" to this problem... people who don't fit the clichés and stereotypes of what an eating disordered person is like. Maybe these kind of "coming outs" will help the general public to understand EDs don't touch only models & teen girls who diet to fit into a dress, but that it really is a genuine mental illness and a huge problem.

Research suggests large genetic pre-disposition for anorexia

2008-04-13T15:09:18Z

I was reading the newspaper and came across this article

How biology trumps image as cause of anorexia
Scientists now believe genes account for up to 70 per cent of risk of developing the disease
April 13, 2008

Megan Ogilvie
TORONTO STAR

The insidious voice of anorexia nervosa is the most deadly of psychiatric disorders.

It can make its sufferers, often astonishingly bright young women, shun food until their skin stretches taut across their skeletal frames. It can make looking in a mirror a dangerous act, or wearing jeans unbearable, since jutting hip bones get rubbed raw by the rough fabric. And, for some, it can make eating a plate of food more frightening than death.

Yet contrary to dominant thinking about the condition for the past two decades, this slow slide into starvation is not about aspiring to a cultural ideal and becoming supermodel skinny.

Other eating disorders, including bulimia nervosa, may be largely influenced by our culture's obsession with thinness. But scientists now say anorexia, which kills up to 15 per cent of those it afflicts, is likely rooted in a person's genes.

And though environment does play a role, researchers believe a genetic predisposition for anorexia outweighs any psychological or cultural factors, and can account for up to 70 per cent of the risk for developing the disorder.

Many people diet, they say, and almost everyone is bombarded with pressures to be thin, but only a very few – less than half a per cent of all women and a scant number of men – develop anorexia.

Experts also point to a long history of anorexia over the centuries, before strikingly thin models became cultural superstars and skinny became the ideal of feminine beauty.

But perhaps the biggest clue that biology trumps culture is the fact that the incidence of anorexia has not changed dramatically in the past 30 years. Rates of bulimia, on the other hand, have risen sharply over the same period, along with societal pressure to be thin.

Cynthia Bulik, a professor of nutrition and director of the eating disorders program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says a core of researchers have long believed anorexia has genetic origins – even before scientific studies bore out their theory.

"These patients are not choosing this behaviour," says Bulik, who's considered an international expert on the disorder. "You could go to any eating disorder clinic around the world and the core clinical picture would be identical. There may be different cultural presentations or variations on the packaging, but the core signs of low body weight, an extreme drive for thinness, amenorrhea (absence of menstruation) and often hyperactivity and anxiety just jump out at you as saying this is biological in origin."

Results of the first genetic studies, released in the past five years, reveal that genetic vulnerability for anorexia nervosa lies on chromosome 1 of the 24 chromosomes that make up the human genome.

Researchers are now digging down to find the exact genes, proteins and pathways involved in the disorder. This could lead to new options for detection, treatment and even prevention of the illness.

Right now there is no effective drug protocol, and doctors mainly try to help patients gain – and maintain – weight, says Dr. Allan Kaplan, head of the eating disorders program at Toronto General Hospital, part of the University Health Network.

Developing new therapies based on genetic research will likely take years, but Kaplan says understanding the role of genes will help ease the guilt and stigma that afflict patients and their families. Sometimes parents feel responsible for their child's eating disorder or are accused of bad parenting.

"For whatever reason," he says, "it's easier for a parent to stand up and announce they are starting a fundraising campaign for schizophrenia than it is for a parent to do the same thing for their child with anorexia."

Patients, meanwhile, may blame themselves for their condition.

There is the long-held idea that anorexia is a self-imposed affliction, Kaplan observes – that people just need to "pull up their socks," to get better.

Many people – even some medical professionals – get angry over a child or young adult's refusal to eat, seeing the patient as "a manipulative, kind of, spoiled brat kid who is just acting out.

"When somebody says, `I'm not eating' and they're 80 pounds and it's obvious that if they don't eat, they are going to die, this gets people very angry.

"They think, `How hard is it to take food and put it on your fork and put it in your mouth.'"

Part of the problem is that anorexia research lags behind that into other psychiatric disorders, as do public awareness campaigns, notes Kaplan, who is also a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto. The media, he adds, also fuel the message that anorexia is driven by culture rather than by genes.

"Summer" (she asked the Star to use only her nickname), a 29-year-old graduate student at the University of Toronto, is in recovery from what she calls "her anorexia." And she says the shift to thinking anorexia is rooted in genetics will bring some peace to sufferers.

"The biggest myth is that anorexia is about being thin," she says. "We're surrounded by images of having to diet more or eat more or exercise more or buy more weight-loss drugs, and you look at someone with an eating disorder and think they are just buying into that. And it's not that at all ...

"If this new research can help alleviate feelings of blame – anything that can take that away is a good thing and will help in recovery."

Scientists first started to investigate whether biology was a factor in anorexia in the 1980s, after observing that identical twins, who share 100 per cent of their genes, were more likely to both get the disorder than non-identical – or fraternal – twins, who share only a portion of DNA.

That led to family studies in the 1990s, in which investigators found that a person is more likely to have anorexia if she has a close relative who's affected. But it was unclear whether the increased risk was due to genetic predisposition or environmental factors, such as a child watching a mother obsessively diet, says Bulik.

To tease out that critical difference, researchers turned back to studying identical twins in very large groups, and found the chance of both twins having anorexia if one is afflicted was close to 60 per cent. In fraternal twins, that chance dropped to 10 per cent.

In the mid-1990s, a private foundation in Europe financed research to locate the specific region on the human genome that gives rise to anorexia. That effort, from data collected across Canada, Germany, Italy and the U.S., pinpointed the hotspot on chromosome 1.

Another genetic-linkage study, this one funded by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), is wrapping up this spring. The five-year, $10-million study brings together 11 research groups, including Kaplan's at Toronto General, to analyze DNA samples from families with two or more members with anorexia.

So far, two genes have been identified, one associated with serotonin (a neurotransmitter that controls mood and appetite) and the other with opioid receptors (which modulate pain), says Bulik, who was involved with the NIMH study.

However, most genetic research these days relies on genome-wide association studies, where whole genomes of thousands, rather than hundreds, of people are rapidly scanned looking for similarities and differences. Two weeks ago, for example, scientists reported the first strong genetic link to lung cancer using this method.

And that method, says Bulik, is where anorexia researchers need to go next – once they get the money.

"For the magnitude of severity of anorexia and for its mortality rate, we are grossly underfunded," she says. "It has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. The way I describe it to people is if there is a girl in the ninth grade who has anorexia nervosa, she is 10 times more likely to die than all of those kids who are sitting around her who are the same age."

Bulik attributes the lack of attention to "the plausibility (of) the socio-cultural explanation" for anorexia. "It's so easy to believe, because we're so surrounded by these cultural pressures for thinness, that these (people with anorexia) are just vain people who are trying to diet down to reach some societal ideal. That plausibility hits you in the face when you're in the checkout line in your supermarket."

Experts stress anorexia is a complex disorder that can't be entirely explained by genetics, and not by just one or two genes.

Unlike cystic fibrosis, for example, which is caused by a mutation on a single gene, anorexia is likely due to the interaction of a number of genes with a number of environmental factors.

Someone with a genetic predisposition for anorexia may be at higher risk for developing the disorder, much like someone with a family history of breast cancer. But that genetic risk does not guarantee a person will get anorexia, says Walter Kaye, the scientist who co-helmed both genetic studies of anorexia and who holds a joint professorship of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego and the University of Pittsburgh.

Environmental factors, including pressure to be thin, can trigger the underlying risk, he believes.

Kaplan suggests parents who have a strong history of anorexia in their families take some preventive measures: they should avoid talking about people's weight or shape, having diet products in the house or labelling foods as either good or bad. Self-esteem, he adds, has to be kept separate from weight and appearance, and even from successes at school or in sports.

Kaplan even suggests that a young girl who, for example, has a mother with anorexia or a father with some of the temperamental traits of compulsivity or perfectionism should not participate in activities that focus on shape, including competitive gymnastics or ballet.

For Summer, anorexia has been a way of exercising some control over life and coping with stress. She says she spiralled into the disorder at 27 after a major crisis. "I became obsessive about food."

Summer compulsively counted calories, which almost landed her in hospital. Now that she's in recovery, she's counting calories again – but now it's to make sure she's getting enough.

"I'm learning that I'm important," she says, "that I need to eat and be healthy, that I have a lot of important things to say and important things to do. And that I'm important in myself."

thoughts?

original source

Websites and designers face prosecution in new French anorexia law

2008-04-11T03:54:24Z

Promoting extreme thinness will become a criminal offence punishable by a jail sentence under a government-backed law that was tabled yesterday in France to combat anorexia nervosa.

The world’s first use of the law to tackle eating disorders is broadly aimed at the media and fashion world, but especially at the websites and blogs of the so-called pro-ana movement. While many are support groups, others promote starvation as a “life-style choice”, with girls and young women posting their wasting images as “thinspiration” for others.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have come under pressure in Britain and other countries recently to ban their pro-ana entries.

Last month a website that originated in France caused an outcry for encouraging children as young as 9 to embrace plastic surgery and extreme dieting in the search for the perfect figure. The Miss Bimbo site invites users to create a virtual doll, keep it “waif thin” with diet pills and buy it breast implants and facelifts. The website attracted 1.2 million players in France.

Fines of up to €30,000 (£24,000) and a two-year prison sentence will be imposed on offenders who “provoke a person to seek excessive thinness by encouraging prolonged restriction of nourishment” to the point of risking death or damage to health. The prison term is raised to three years with a €45,000 fine if the person dies.

Some experts and fashion leaders oppose the Bill, which is expected to be passed by Parliament within months. “You do not solve this kind of problem with the law but with understanding,” Jean-Paul Gaultier, the designer, said. Didier Grumbach, head of the French Couture Federation, said it was not up to the state to legislate on beauty and aesthetic criteria.

The law, modelled on legislation for abetting suicide, was tabled by Valérie Boyer, an MP from President Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement. Roselyne Bachelot, the Health Minister, gave it the Government’s blessing at the unveiling of a code for the media, advertising and fashion industry on “promoting healthy body images” and fighting anorexia.

“The pro-ana movements which spread their messages of death on the web must be the target for special attention,” Mrs Bachelot said as she presented Mrs Boyer’s draft Bill along with the voluntary code. Up to 40,000 people suffer from anorexia in France, the great majority of them girls and young women.

The 48-year-old elder daughter of Jacques Chirac, the last President, has been incapacitated for two decades with the disease.

Mrs Bachelot said that the “waif-like, diaphanous, transparent bodies on the walls of our towns, in our magazines and on our computer screens are exerting their power of harmful fascination on our society”. Anorexia was one of the most lethal of mental disorders, killing 20 per cent of long-term sufferers, she said.

Mrs Boyer, who has two teenage daughters, said that the new offence was necessary because “it was not possible to deal with the pro-ana sites under the law against provoking suicide or promoting cults”. She added: “We do not know who is hiding behind these sites, but there is real mental manipulation.” Her law was also aimed at magazines, she said.

It would probably be left to judges to define “excessive thinness” but this might be defined as a body mass index, she said. BMI rules have been set by some model agencies since 2006 when the Madrid fashion show imposed a minimum index of 18 for cat-walk models. This translates as a minimum weight of 56 kilos (8.8 stone) for a height of 1.75 metres (5ft 9in).

France banned last year a controversial Nolita advertisement featuring Isabelle Caro, a French model-actress who has written a book on her continuing battle with the disease.

The French voluntary code, which was drawn up by a panel headed by two eminent psychiatrists, commits the fashion, media and advertising world to raising acceptance of varied body shapes. “We undertake the promotion of diversity in the representation of the body, avoiding all stereotypes which could favour potentially dangerous canons of beauty,” the signatories said.

Marcel Rufo, a celebrity child psychiatrist who headed the code panel, said that he fully backed the use of the criminal law in fighting anorexia. The disease remains a mystery but everything had to be done to prevent vulnerable girls being encouraged to starve, he said. Among other new rules, magazines should be forced to mention that 60 per cent of their pictures are electronically retouched, he said.

Source:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article3715030.ece?token=null&offset=12

What do you think?

anti_ana @ 2008-04-10T23:18:00

2008-04-10T21:19:00Z

lol_anaz
A community basically for making fun of wannarexics and people who think eating disorders are cool. Thinking an ED is a great way to lose weight so they can look like people in magazines.
We're a bunch of eating disordered girls and boys, who are tired of all the people who think they have a disorder by skipping dinner one day. Fantastic place to join if you have a sense of humour and tired of people not respecting what an eating disorder really is about.

Eating disorder bloggers wanted for survey

2008-03-31T16:23:20Z

I am a current graduate student researching the social history of food-related disorders, inspired, in large part, from my own struggles with anorexia and bulimia. I'm conducting an anonymous survey of bloggers who blog about eating disorders or eating disorder recovery in partnership with a clinical psychologist for joint research and publication purposes.

I'm hoping our survey generates lots of responses so that our findings are well-rounded, inclusive and convincing. The only two requirements are that you must have an active blog and that it must address, at least in part, your experiences with an eating disorder. I'm hoping for responses from people of all ages and genders who are in all stages of recovery and who suffer from a diversity of eating disorders, from anorexia to binge eating disorder to ed-nos to orthorexia.

If the scope of the study pertains to your own experiences, I invite you to participate by taking it. More information and a survey link can be found here or http://the-f-word.org/blog/index.php/2008/03/23/eating-disordered-bloggers-wanted-for-survey/

Thank you!

Rachel Richardson

New here

2008-03-29T04:19:58Z

I'm new here...
I've been going through a lot of rough things with my family lately... and I'm afraid I may be relapsing.

I almost joined a pro-ana site before I completely saw my error and joined this instead. I want to get better. II must be honest and say I do really want to lose weight- but that is my crazy mind speaking- because my intellect KNOWS that I don't want to go down that road again. It's so scary... and hard... and I am dealing with a lot of depression (major depression) and anxiety... which is not helping the fact that I want to relapse- because I feel completely out of control. I just started on antidepressants... but I need control now.

I just need support... but I feel like nobody knows how I'm feeling because they haven't suffered the same obsessive thoughts.

I'm so ashamed that I'm going down this road again...
but I can't get the thought "5 more pounds... 5ore pounds" out of my head. I'm 5'8. I'm tall. I've always been gangly... even before my ED. Once that struck... I was skin in bones at 80lbs. I NEVER want to be there again... but 120 seems, all of a sudden... too much for me to handle.

I'm sorry to be so depressing sounding. I'm just glad I chose to come here then choe some mind-boggling pro-ana site... what was I thinking?????

I wonder...

2008-03-25T07:19:29Z

how do you look in the mirror and see the good parts of your body. is it actually possible to see yourself as beautiful?

anti_ana @ 2008-03-15T17:57:00

2008-03-15T18:10:33Z

I'm new here, but I wanted to post the reason I joined.

Last year, I was going through a really bad time, and I felt really out of control of everything. I decided to go on a diet. The compliments I received when I lost some weight combined with how in control I suddenly felt inspired me to carry on losing weight untill I was unhealthily thin. Luckily, although I didn't think this at the time, I was already under observation by social services because of my circumstances, and help was arranged for me pretty quickly. I was better within a year.

But so many people - not just girls, although I think there is a 1:9 ratio of girls to boys or something - suffer with this disorder for years and when they do get help, it takes a lot longer because "Ana" has really taken hold. Anorexia alters peoples perceptions - what other people see as healthy, they see as fat, and what other people see as skeletal, they see as "perfect". Several of my friends are battling with this disorder at the moment, and one of them is, essentially, dying. She used Pro-Ana sites.

The main issue I have with pro-ana sites is the idea of "Thin-spiration". I think more sites need to be set up that don't treat anorexia as terrible, but as a problem, because problems can be solved, and help those who suffer from the disorder to work through it. Sites where people can go and be shown pictures of ordinary people, and sites where they can go to vent, and be told "It's OK." and sites that promote the idea of getting help.

Slightly off topic I guess, but I also don't like it when those who suffer from anorexia are referred to as "Anorexics", because it implies that the only thing that is important about them is this disorder they have. Using this term tends to mean that people forget they are people - daughters, sons, friends, brothers, sisters - still feel - happy, sad, excited, angry - they aren't simply "anorexic".

Mainly, I guess, I just want to help spread the message that "Ana" is not a friend - it is an enemy, and it can destroy lives.

"Maybe" Recovery

2008-03-14T19:07:05Z

I was on the pro ana website today and here is the biggest problem that I have: of all the advice and “tips” the members there give each other, no one ever suggests RECOVERY! Even the members who have been in recovery.

One user wrote this:

In the time i've been a member here people have...
-stopped me from sticking a razorblade into myself
-stopped me from sticking my fingers down my throat and forcing myself to be sick
-stopped me from thinking that killing myself was the only way out
-given me advice on absolutely everything... family, friends, guys, health etc
-not to mention the number one reason we come here...for support and advice on this (and various others) stupid, hellish and unbearable disease,
-and thats just what i can think of right now!

But no one has ever mentioned to this girl: “Maybe recovery”

Now believe me, when I was in active addiction, the last thing I (thought) I wanted was to give up my drugs. If anyone in my family (normal, non-using people) ever suggested rehab to me, I got the hugest resentment. But I think if I had someone like me suggesting recovery, I might have been more open to it sooner.

Eventually I became more afraid of living with drugs than living without them. I feared for my life daily and feared I would burn my house down with my aunt living next door (I am a smoker). I weighed one hundred and four pounds and five foot six. I thought of suicide everyday.

By getting sober I found out my primary purpose: to help other recovering drug addicts.

And hopefully a few ana/mias.

Love.

Hope I Can Help

2008-03-13T15:09:38Z

Hi

I'm new and a little computer user un-friendly, please bear with me. thanks. Here's what I wrote in my journal:

First, I'm so happy I found this site. I don't know if I have an ED, but I am overweight, I am definitely an emotional eater and I may have a sugar addition (still not sure). I came across (accidentally) the other "pro ana" community and felt so compelled to help these girls and guys. I don't know if my experience will help anyone but I feel I must try. I am a recovering addict - 3 1/2 years sober. I am interested in the "addiction aspect of ana/mia" - being addicted to loosing weight. Being an addict, I can totally related to the hiding and wanting to protect your disease, the guilt, that no one else "understands", feeling judged, the controlling behaviors (counting calories, planning menus, etc.), the suicidal thoughts and behaviors, the self-hatred, the hopelessness and the despair. For me to recover, I had to surrender to a form of recovery and get a higher power. I'm very happy now. My life is manageable, for the most part, and I have people surrounding me that really care and love me. My family trusts me completely again, which has been one of the biggest rewards. I hope I can help. Thanks and God Bless.

Pam

My Official Report And Opinion

2008-03-06T04:13:58Z

My Official Report And Opinon [on pro-ana communities]

So I just checked my email and read all the responses to the question I posed about what anti-ana is. I personally don't have anything for it or against it yet but I want to do more research. I've spent a lot of time in the pro-ana community, although I'm not anorexic and have never had an eating disorder. I have other similar issues though (major depression, bipolar disorder, ocd, add, generalized anxiety, panic disorder, ethnophobia, insomnia and supposedly a personality disorder, however I would prefer to say that my condition is chemical and not psychological because although I am miserable a lot, I'm still level headed and sensible). Anyway, I started hanging out in the ana communities because I'm always looking for support groups, but I have such a myriad of issues going on that it's hard to find a niche. I also was drawn to how accepting the group mentality is, and probably also that I'm one of the older people there (maybe that makes me feel more secure or something, I don't know). As for my condition, I do take medication and although I'm well managed I still feel quite poorly most of the time. So, I ran into this community on here today and I started thinking about both sides of the ana issue. I have personally never paid much attention to it even though I was smack dab in the middle of it because I've felt that most of their site content does not apply to me, however I do enjoy certain forums and chats. Okay, this is going to be long but I think I have some important concepts to bring up.

I thought I would give my two cents here since I'm probably not the average or typical person associated with ana content at all. I feel pretty neutral about it, because I really don't think it hurts anyone unless they want to be hurt. I've been friends with hundreds of different girls on these sites now for several years and I've yet to see a victim. There are two types of common profiles. First, I want to talk about the girls who don't have eating disorders, however they claim that they do, and are a large population in the community. Most of them are under 18. What I see all the time is incredibly disturbed girls with terrible coping skills. Most of them are needy and enjoy talking to me because I'm 21, laid back, just hanging out online and don't mind listening to them. I usually have to hear about bad parent-child relationships, incredibly poor self-esteem but also a lot of their behavior reflects a manner of attention-seeking. Only rarely do they actually have an unusually low or dangerously low weight. Most of them are physically healthy, but also slightly overweight. To get attention, they will say things, for example, like that they intend to go and drink an entire bottle of ipecac to purge. I'll mention the lethality of that and they will try and argue with me, making things more and more dramatic, tending to try to argue their "right" or "freedom," basically a lot of "you can't make me or control me!" So there is definitely a major factor of passive aggressive rebellion. Perhaps they like to play this game with anyone who will play along because it allows them to act out a parent-child relationship problem by putting me or whoever else in the parental position of eldership and then proceed to act out in the way the wish they could with their own parent or older family member who they have a disturbed relationship with. It seems like a release of frustration and desperation. By the way, I don't talk to girls like this anymore. After about one month of figuring out these types, I will now just block them immediately, which is unusual for me because, like I said, I'm just really laid back and don't mind talking to strangers with problems. I have a lot of patience, but not for this kind of non-sense. Once a girl tried to rile me up by saying she was going on a fast of no liqiuds for ten days. I knew that she knew it was a crock, and I didn't feel like entertaining her so I just kind of said, "Oh. Okay." She immediately spun out of control saying that no one loved her or cared about her. I minimized the IM box and later reopened it discovering a long and passionate one-sided conversation that had gone on without me. There is also a large population of girls who come into the chatrooms to ask how to "get it up" or ask something similar in which they ask for purging instruction, leave the chat, return and report success or failure, often with colorful descriptions of the process. Sometimes there is group purging. It's just that the girls honestly seem to love it - purging in specific. I think this is because when you're a fifteen year old girl, the "bravery" of doing something so condemned excites them, makes them feel hardcore or special, and once the physical act has happened, they then get a rush of dopamine which rewards them for their behavior. To sum this up, these girls are miserable and depressed, for sure, but I think that a lot of their efforts and behaviors are indicative of psychological disorders, rather than eating disorders. I believe the majority of these anas are not actually anorexic or bulemic. To them, it's just the throw-up game or something. I have actually read about about, "the throw-up game" in a psychology textbook that was explaining abnormal social cohesion through purging, passing one another out, punching or hitting one another, cutting each other as well as themselves and even some bizarre cohesion that involves unusual sexual situations. Oh, and these are the girls that are into tips, tricks, suggestions, instructions and directions. They are usually the authors of the pro-ana sites that seem the strangest - their sites seem more like a vanity/lonlienes club with "right" ways to purge or restrict, bizarre tips and preoccupation with red ana bracelets.

The second, and other main profile type of anas in the pro-ana communities are girls mostly 18 and older who genuinely have eating disorders. These girls are not interested in tacky things like tips, tricks and thinspiration. Most of them are insulted by the phony, younger crowd. Their websites have content more along the lines of lists of negative calorie fruits, BMI calculators, and scientific articles on "systematic underfeeding" or "entering keytosis" and other complex articles on dieting that pertain to nutritional science and weight loss theory. I've made friends with quite a few of these girls and they're ill but very genuine and mature. If it weren't for them, I would have no reason to ever go in any ana chatrooms anymore. I really only put up with having to ignore the bizarre munchkin types because I have long-standing friendships with a fair group of the older girls who are worth the inconvenience. They will discuss how much they weigh, a current diet they're on or how guilty they feel from binging, but they don't stir anything up over it and seem to prefer confidentiality with a couple members vs. talking about much in the main flow of chat. If the topic in the chat is something that can actually be discussed and debated, they will participate in group conversation.

So, my conclusion to this is that I'm trying to give a realistic portrayal of the ana community from an insider's perspective. I'm trying to assess whether or not I'm pro-ana, or if I'm anti-ana or completely neutral. I do feel mostly neutral about it because I believe the first type of girls I described are disturbed, but they are having fun at the same time, want to be there and enjoy the club-like atmosphere. These are the girls that everyone assumes are vulnerable to the scene, but I see it just the opposite. They clearly do not have eating disorders and I've never seen any of them actually develop an eating disorder while, however, it's obvious that they're trying to "catch" an ED which is probably part of the acting out issue. The result is becoming upset, distraught and angry at themselves because they can't mimic the behavior of an anorexic because that's just not what they are and starvation is obviously uncomfortable and unedurable to people without eating disorders. As for whether or not the general atmosphere is dangerous to them, I would say, yes, moderately, in that they have their little purging parties. They also love to get into cyber cat fights and pick on one girl and get completely aggressive and verbally vicious, just like a pack of hyenas. However, I don't think it would matter or make any difference if they were not in pro-ana chatrooms. They are drawn there because they are already sick. I don't think they become any sicker. It's just that they choose that setting as an outlet for whatever their problem is. If they didn't have the chat, I'm sure they'd be doing something just as destructive anyway, like self-injury, running away from home, sneaking out at night, usings drugs and alcohol, getting pregnant, going on wild and manic sex binges or submitting to the will of an older, violent boyfriend they, "love." The other type of girls are embarrassed by the behavior of them, and mostly dislike the typical websites with pictures of emaciated women and advice like smoking cigarettes to curb hunger. They use the chat and forums to relate to one another during deeply depressing and difficult times. I think the communities have probably saved some lives for those that are seriously ill with eating disorders and would otherwise, have no other support group. Finally, I think the issue I'm debating right now is really a chicken and egg situation in reference to whether the sites attract people who are already sick or if the sites cause people that come there to get sick.

Finally, my official opinion is that these pro-ana groups have little to no effect on visitors or members and that censoring or banning any of their content is just concealing the problem and trying to look away. Pro-ana portrays a very grim picture of something going on within our society amongst adolescent girls. I do not and will never support censorship of any speech, literature, press, web content or suppression of any club or group. It is just so sad to see how disturbed these people are and you have to wonder where their parents are in that they often spend hours upon hours in the chatrooms all day. So, I'm going to hang around this group for a while because I've become quite interested in this issue and would like to pursue it further. By the way, I'm an anthropology major and a sociology minor with a second minor in psychology. Could you tell? ;-) Haha, sorry if I wrote too much or over analyzed. I'd appreciate any feedback, comments or questions in relation to this theory. Thanks!

Anti-Ana?

2008-03-06T00:37:47Z

What exactly is Anti-Ana? I know what pro-ana websites are and I'm familiar with them. So is anti-ana a hatred thing for ana websites, or anas themselves? Do you believe in censoring their content?

EDs and vegetarianism

2008-02-03T22:45:39Z

So I've been vegetarian for several years and it's definitely an ethical thing for me, but I've always been interested in the potential health benefits of it. Recently, though, I've heard that vegetarianism and veganism are sometimes used to cover up EDs. The various vegetarian communities I belong to tend to deny this, but other sources make me believe that it's true. So I thought this group might have useful opinions? Is it common to use these as a weight loss strategy or an excuse not to eat? Is vegetarianism a risky lifestyle for those recovering from EDs? It seems like it might be in some cases. I've never had an ED, so I don't worry about triggers in myself, but I worry about encouraging problems in other people.

anti_ana @ 2008-02-02T16:54:00

2008-02-02T22:11:41Z

Are there any foods that make you feel really good after you eat them?
Regardless if you've struggled with eating problem or not, what meals make you not give one damn about Hollywood and tabloid figures in make your insides explode with happy?

I was in a treatment facility 4 years ago. About 2 weeks into the program I decided to have PBJ on a bagel with a glass of milk and a few sides. After every meal we would process our feelings in a group. When it came to me I took a good look at our group leader with the biggest smile on my face as told him "I'm feeling pretty amazing. I don't have anything to tell you tonight because I am awesome right now. Jesus christ, Do you know how good that stuff is on a bagel?" He laughed and said "I think I might know."
I had this endorphin rush because it finally clicked. My body loved feeling healthy. My body did recall good associations with food.
I can't help to feel that I genuinely inspired some girls in the at that table, even if only for one night.

I began cooking for my family. I never really tasted before so I wanted to know what I was missing. To this day I'm always baking for friends and family not only because the foods I make make me feel good about kicking a disorder straight in the ass 3 times a day, but because I can make them happy, too.

Don't even start me on grilled cheese, tomato soup, and fucking cupcakes.

anti_ana @ 2008-02-02T09:43:00

2008-02-02T15:52:38Z

Hi, my name is Kathrine, and I'm new to the comm.

I joined because I am a college student at 5'3" and somewhere between 90-95 lbs. I've had this problem for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure if it's an eating disorder or not, but I can eat
ridiculous amounts of food, but for some reason, I never gain weight. I'm scared, because since I've started going to college, my weight keeps dropping, and I don't know what to do. I want to try to get my weight up somewhere between 105 and 110, but I really don't know what I can do.

I may also have a thyroid problem, since my body only tells me that I'm hungry about once a day, and I only have to eat a little to feel full. As such, I often forget to eat, and have to be reminded by my roommate, or someone else, or I'll end up starving myself unintentionally.

Does anyone have any tips to help out? I'm going to try to assign times to go eat, to get myself on a regular eating schedule, but does anyone have any other tips?

A video about media and women/body image

2008-02-02T12:35:19Z

I find this video rather good. It's about how advertisement influences us, to put it short and nice.

What do you think?

Warning: Features pictures which might be triggering. However, they are used to illustrate the lecturer's point.

What would you rather do...

2008-02-02T11:28:31Z

I was thinking that as this community needs to be more active, maybe we could introduce some daily features? I got this idea that we could every day do an entry about why we don't want to succumb to the ideals of this obsession of being dangerously thin, and what keeps us from going that way, what keeps us on recovery? Pro-ED communities do a lot of 'inspirational' entries, so maybe anti-ED community could do ones inspiring us to be healthy and reach for the world rather than turning to self-harm?

One of my reasons to keep healthy is to be one day able to see all of Monet's works, especially Waterlilies. I love art and museums, and connect intensely with colour and pictures. Perhaps the most significant work of art in my life has always been this one by Monet.

So, what would you rather do than obsess over your weight/body and giving your life to slowly killing yourself? What inspires you towards health today?

New Here

2008-01-28T05:39:08Z

Hi Everyone-

I am brand new to this community. I never thought I would be wanting support from an online community as it always seemed a little strange to me. But after reading some of your posts I seem to be in a similar predicament as many of you are. I am a recovery binge, ana and mia "er" and I am just seeking some friends and support I can give and receive from.

I do receive "mentral help" but often find myself "thinking too much" when it's quiet. Well, this is one of those times I'm obsessing over eating too much throughout the weekend and longing to embrace previous destructive thoughts that currently attempt to penetrate my esteem. I wish it was so simple as ignorance and instantaneous recovery. But unfortunately, for most of us, it is quite a lengthy road to recovery. One I been traveling for years and harvesting many relapses. But I want this time to be better. I actually want to get better this time, but somehow that's not making it any easier.

Thanks for letting me write and post to this community.

EK

Gaining

2008-01-22T23:54:36Z

I just finished this book called "Gaining: the Truth about Life after Eating Disorders" by Aimee Liu, and I really loved it. There was a lot of information I didn't know and a lot of touching and inspiring stories. Has anyone else read this? Especially, has anyone recovering/recovered from an ED read this? What did you think?

Keeping the community alive

2008-01-19T17:41:54Z

Just out of interest, how did everyone end up joining this group?

EDIT: Everyone, not anyone :)

Let's do something for the problem...

2008-01-14T14:59:41Z

What do you think could be the counter-movement to pro-ana? What could be done to offer a different view?

I have been thinking today that maybe, as pro-ana is an internet phenomena, the counter-movement should start in the internet. Maybe there could be a website founded? One that wouldn't try to to preach but would offer the truth of what really happens when you fall ill with an eating disorder, why it shouldn't happen and what are other options to solve the problem that is making one turn to pro-ana groups.

It wouldn't be so much for those people who are seriously ill with an eating disorder, although there could be some information about where to get help and something that motivates to recover. But it would more be for people who are falling for the pro-ana thing - a place for them to visit and reconsider --- and there could also be a forum or something for people who decide not to go the pro-ana route, a place where members would help each other to solve the problems that are driving one to self-destructive behaviour.

What do you think? Could a site like that be good?

And just out of interest --- when did pro-ana start? From where?