
Eating Disorders Support Group
Eating disorders are marked by an obsessive need to control the intake and/or purging of food. This community is dedicated to those struggling on the road to recovery. Join to discuss your experience with others and find support. Get advice, ask questions, and meet others who are going through similar struggles.

deleted_user
okay so i came across this article today and i wonder what you though? im not saying this to offend anyone and if i do so i apologize.
my question is... do you believe that media influence played a major part in influencing you and leading you to have an eating disorder?
i know for myself that when i first started to "diet" i hadn't a clue what i was doing but a pro-ana site gave me "good tips" on how to lose weight and after some time i became what i am today, a mess.
this new is aimed at shutting down companies and websites that promote extreme thinness.i found this part interesting "Revising existing legislation against inciting a person to commit suicide to include encouraging a person to "excessive thinness."
i think that this law is a step in the right direction in preventing eating disorders, it wont stop them all but its good start.
http://health.lifestyle.yahoo.ca/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=15054&news_channel_id=1044&channel_id=1044
my question is... do you believe that media influence played a major part in influencing you and leading you to have an eating disorder?
i know for myself that when i first started to "diet" i hadn't a clue what i was doing but a pro-ana site gave me "good tips" on how to lose weight and after some time i became what i am today, a mess.
this new is aimed at shutting down companies and websites that promote extreme thinness.i found this part interesting "Revising existing legislation against inciting a person to commit suicide to include encouraging a person to "excessive thinness."
i think that this law is a step in the right direction in preventing eating disorders, it wont stop them all but its good start.
http://health.lifestyle.yahoo.ca/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=15054&news_channel_id=1044&channel_id=1044
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I'm really against all these pro-anorexia sites though. They're stupid and only propagate that EDs are glamourous and if you wanna be like a star, you have to starve yourself. Magasines also promote unhealthy nutritional guides (such as, "workout for an hour and eat 1200 calories and you'll lose weight!") Yeah, you'll lose weight, but you'll be starving yourself...duh. It's just as bad as anorexia, and you're more prone to developing the obsessive mindset of an eating disordered person. Ugh.
Mine started way before it was ever discussed. And, there was no big deal involving the media.
I still have no interest of someone is thin or not. In fact, my actual preference towards what I consider beautiful is usually a chunky type woman. Yeah, maybe that sounds strange, but it's true.
I do honestly believe it is a mental illness.
I think that France's recent legislation about making it illegal for websites, fashion magazines and advertisers to promote extreme thinness is another indication that the media plays a role in the overwhelming increasing rate of eating disorders.
Am I blaming my development of an ED on the media? No, but I believe that being bombarded with images of Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, etc did influence.
I somehow doubt that there would be a profusion of pro-ANA websites (and ED recovery sites) if we valued Rubin-esque women. I also think that America's desire for more, more, more or better, better, better adds to the development of EDs. We need to teach our children that being themselves is enough. They are worthy as is. They don't need to be stick thin, the best player on a team or the straight A student to be important. They are important because they are made in God's image. This is a lesson that I'm trying to learn because no one ever taught me.
When I had an ED, I would go to pro sites but more to talk to people who were active in their disorder. I never wanted to look like anyone in the media and thought they looked sick, I just couldn't see myself.
The media will obviously have an effect on people, check out the Fiji study and what happened when they introduced Western TV shows.
Basically, around age 14 or 15, my mother called us ungrateful for all her "help" to make us better people, and quit us from all the tons of activities she had us doing. It was a huge shock, and suddenly, I had nothing to control my life and fill my thoughts. So, I had to get better at the one thing I had for so long- my eating disorder. Well, I "got better" at it- so good that I nearly died that fateful 9 December 2007.
I doubt I would have ever really cared about magasines views on weight and pictures of ultra-slim models if I would have been taught that a natural body shape is, well...NATURAL. Whereas, I was told that I was "no supermodel" and "only pretty" and that I "should lose about five pounds." My mother also ALWAYS moaned about how depressed she was because she was fat, even though it really was that she was fat because she binge-ate while depressed.
I think the parents in eating disordered people are a lot to blame. If not the parents, the guardians or other people in the family/friends. The more pressure you get while growing up (whether it be about "be thin [from your grandmother]" or "man, if only Mommy could make her thighs smaller" or "hey fatso! [as some kid runs down the locker room hall] or "if only you could do SOMETHING right for Daddy"), the more likely you'll just cave to media influences, and validate the right to continue in it. It's a hugggeee vicious cycle. :\