Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that mainly affects adolescent females, but can affect older women, boys and men as well. People who develop anorexia normally start off by wanting to lose some weight, but end up being preoccupied with their body shape and image. An anorexic will go to extremes to lose weight by starving themselves, over-exercising, and taking laxitives. Some anorexics will also purge what little they eat, which is a symptom of bullmia (when you eat large meals but purge afterwards).
Sufferers are normally very thin but are convinced they are overweight, no matter how low the numbers on the scale. An anorexic normally weighs at least 15% below the weight expected for their height – therefore, anorexics develop an intense fear of becoming fat (thus their extreme dieting habits) and are desperate to lose more weight. Even if they are near death, they will still be convinced they are overweight.
…And you were the one who complained to me the other day about being ‘fat’. You said – I quote – “I wish I was anorexic, because then I would lose weight and be pretty”.
An eating disorder is the following, as defined by Wikipedia:
Eating disorders are a group of conditions characterized by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual’s physical and emotional health.
Last two words: emotional health. An eating disorder is not just about under/overeating; it’s more mental than you think. As you can see in the first three paragraphs, anorexia isn’t just about losing weight. It’s about control. By the end of it an anorexic has not realised how thin they have become, what they are doing to their body, and are still wondering how to lose more weight. The desire to lose weight is almost obsessive because of their intense fear of gaining weight.
Why wish anorexia upon yourself? Do you want to be trapped in an endless cycle, worrying about your weight, your body, and food constantly? Do you want to suffer from the psychiatric disorder that has the highest mortality rate, just to lose a bit of weight?
There are plently of healthier ways to lose weight, if you insist. Anorexia is not one of them. And unlike what many people think, it’s not just about not eating – as I mentioned, it’s about control. It’s about that intense fear of being fat. And that is how the cycle begins. 10% of the 1% diagnosed in the USA die because of anorexia. Their dieting and urge to lose weight had reached such extreme lengths that they died.
An eating disorder is not just about losing weight and it’s not some kind of easy route to lose a few pounds. People wonder why an anorexic can’t just eat some food and gain their weight back. The answer? Because although they can physically eat the food, mentally, they cannot, because of their fear of gaining weight.
Why is it an anorexic is now simply someone who undergoes weight loss in today’s society? Why do people suddenly wish anorexia upon themselves to lose weight? When did the meaning of anorexia vanish? When was it that anorexia suddenly lost the mental side of its definition?
I repeat: an eating disorder is more mental than anything else. So to say that you wish you had one just to lose weight… to be frank, it fucking disgusts me. Do you really realise just how much an eating disorder affects you and your family?
And if my friend ever reads this who is recovering… you are beautiful. You can do it. Stay strong. 