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news: the dangers of pro-eating disorder websites
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| Title/Topic: The Dangers of Pro-Eating Disorder Websites |
| Posted On: 10/21/2009 |
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Oct 21 2009 (Irish Independent) After a day of forcing herself to eat nothing but fruit or low-fat jelly, Michelle needs something to help her ignore her body's screaming demands for food and just a click away on her computer are hundreds of people willing to help.
But instead of encouraging her to take care of herself, the websites are devoted to promoting starvation and painful thinness as a perfectly normal way of life instead of as a deadly illness.
"If I think I can't have a biscuit because it will make me put on X* pounds in weight, I know the people on those websites will agree with me when no one else does," explains Michelle Kickham (18) from Blanchardstown. "They re-inforce all the weird illogical thoughts that I have and make me think that whatever I'm doing is okay."
Michelle was diagnosed with anorexia two years ago and last year had to give up school when she was admitted to hospital and put on a re-feeding programme.
She's still getting help and remains underweight with a low BMI (Body Mass Index) but Michelle is determined to warn other girls off the pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia sites that encourage a condition that has caused her such misery.
"Anorexia is a very isolating illness," she says. "On the rare occasion that I would go out with my friends, they could all be eating crisps and I can't take one. I can't even hold a packet and then touch my lips with the same hand out of fear that there might be one calorie on there.
"That might sound crazy to everyone else but people on pro-anorexia websites will say 'I do that too, it's fine'. That's what makes the websites so addictive -- they make you feel like you belong and that what you're doing is okay."
Pro-ana and pro-mia websites accept anorexia (ana) and bulimia (mia) as a lifestyle choice. Websites offer tips on ignoring hunger pangs and how to hide weight loss from doctors. Others display 'thinspiration' pictures where extreme skinny celebrities, models or site users with jutting bones are held up as ideals. One site describes itself as being 'about beauty' but applauds a picture of a painfully thin Mary-Kate Olsen.
Another website, billed as 'entertainment' has similar pictures of stick-thin models and Victoria Beckham, who is hailed for her "amazing collar and chest bones". The site posts links to websites offering diet tips as well as directing users to Ana's Creed and Ana's Commandments -- the second of which is "being thin is more important than being healthy".
It's estimated that the number of these sites has increased by nearly 500% over the past three years. The issue was thrust into the media spotlight yet again when the Royal College of Psychiatrists used the recent London Fashion Week to repeat their opposition to websites that promote unhealthy attitudes to size.
Ruth Ni Eidhin from Bodywhys, the Eating Disorders Association of Ireland, agrees. "The websites have become a bigger issue over the past few years because of the rise in the number of social networking sites and there are a lot more people, especially young people, using the internet," she explains.
"I've never seen one with a .ie address but anyone can access sites around the world. Pro-ana links are going onto Facebook and Bebo. So much of the content posted on the internet is done by individuals and many of the pro-ana and pro-mia sites are blogs or personal sites."
She adds: "Studies show that these sites have a very real and damaging effect. Our hope would be to offer an alternative and at Bodywhys.ie there are message boards that offer genuine support and help towards recovery."
Michelle agrees. "Pro-ana sites market themselves as a support community but they're not," she says. "People with eating disorders can't support each other, there's always competition to lose more weight."
She adds: "I don't want to come across as a hypocrite. I'm trying to get well and I know all the facts about anorexia and I know how illogical my thoughts are but I can't stop what I do a lot of the time.
"Pro-ana websites are bad and they are destructive and something needs to be done about them but I do feel a sense of belonging in them.
'That's why they are so dangerous. I'm trying to recover but I'm still struggling and I'm still vulnerable. If I were to relapse and go onto these sites I could be totally broken down to shreds again."
More Irish people are presenting themselves for treatment for an eating disorder with more males coming forward and people in their 40s, 50s and 60s. But there is still very little information on what can trigger the illness.
Michelle says: "I don't know why I developed anorexia. I think it comes down to a lot of things to do with stress and depression. I've always been a perfectionist and had a desire to please other people. I couldn't control the way I felt but I could control my weight."
She adds: "I never had a picture of someone in my head that I wanted to look like or a target weight. It's just about losing the weight; I had to see my bones. I can't go on the sites now because the images still make me want to lose weight."
Cork-based psychologist and author of In Search of Thinness, Dr Gillian Moore Groake says eating disorders can effect anyone.
She explains: "There are a lot of psychological factors tied up with it. Often stress, challenges or changes in life, such as the death of a spouse or the loss of a job, can trigger it but it's impossible to pin down any one thing."
She adds: "But these sites don't help. They are frightening. People with anorexia are looking for justification in their actions. They know they won't find it from their family or doctor but they will find it online. Anorexia is not a lifestyle choice, it's an illness -- and the first port of call for anyone with an eating disorder should be a GP."
By Chrissie Russell
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* Numbers removed by Pale Reflections. Parts of this article have been edited to remove links to specific pro-eating disorder websites. |
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comments on this news item
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pam caballero | Time Zone: CST Central Standard
Joined: 12/29/2009 4:48:59 AM | Last Logged In: 6/28/2010 3:54:23 AM |
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| Posted: 12/30/2009 5:49:49 AM GMT |
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I think that there are many things that can trigger an eating disorder. But all of this things always boil down to the same thing: Self love and self acceptance. Michelle states it herself when she talks her desire of pleasing others. (instead of pleasing herself). Why do girls want to be thin? to be beautiful... to be loved by others, in stead on focusing on loving themselves.
About the pro ana and mia sites, I think they not only provide a sense of belonging, but also:
Are the way for girls to take revenge with the world for not taking them as they are.
Provide of a sense of adequacy
Provide a sense of superiority.
Legitimate self-punishment. They legitimate being a martyr by choice.
Provide of an excuse not to find a solution for recovery.
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