Eating Disorders - do people realize how skinney they are and just like it that way?

Question

I saw a lady the other day looking like a skeleton. She must be doing her body so much damage. I wonder what she sees? Fat? Or maybe just like her body that way? Its sad as she will obviously die very early in life, never have children and be very depressed.
I saw a tv programme about teenagers comparing how skinny they are and how much they admire each other. Do they really or do they like to see other suffering like them. Its something they wont just get over, it will be with them through life. Even if they become healthy eaters again they will have done so much damage and may even become obese because they have ruined their motabalizm.
So sad that kids grow up to think body image means so much that they basically kill themself for it. What went wrong when they were growing?

Answer 1

Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Body Dysmorphic Disorder are mental health conditions. They have a distorted view of what their body looks like and cannot see it like a healthy person would.

It requires a lot of treatment, counselling and diet therapy to help them to regain their "normal" vision of their bodies. Sometimes bulimia and anorexia go hand in hand to continue the viscious cycle. They binge and then feel guilty so they purge and then won't eat for a few days. Then they're starving so they binge and the cycle begins again.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a little different but a mental health issue all the same. These patients see their bodies as flawed no matter how perfect or beautiful they might be. They become obsessed with looking at themselves in the mirror and doing things to make themselves look better. I know, you're thinking that everyone does that, but this is in the extreme. It makes it a mental health condition because it is interfering with their everyday lives. They miss work because they can't pull away from the mirror, they can't drive because they end up looking at themselves in the mirrors rather than watching where they are going, and even have numerous plastic surgeries to try to achieve what they're wanting to see in the mirror.

Answer 2

When people have eating disorders mostly females but sometimes males, psychologist believe that its because they have control over something. Although not everyone suffers from an eating disorder for the same reason. This can occur because of family disorganization, parents who are too strict, or it can happen because of a trauma event that happend in the teen's life, such as abuse or if there parents are going through a divorce. It can even because of a relationship that the teenager was in. A lot of teenagers are afraid of being fat so this was the easiest way for them to stay skinny.

Answer 3

I had an eating disorder before. I knew how skinney I was but I just wasn't satisfied with my body. I always saw other girls that were prettier than me. I kept thinking that if I was skinnier I would be prettier than them. At one point a was like a skeleton and I sometimes knew I was skinnier than everyone but I wasn't satisfied because I still wasn't as pretty as them. Also the lifestyle changes so it's hard to put on weight because I lost so much that I was afraid I'd gain a lot of fat and look fat like I used to be.

There was a lot of pressure to be skinny because you see all the guys ask out the skinny girls. Before when I was overweight, I was almost never asked out by guys but once I started dieting I noticed a lot of guys started talking to me and asking me out.

Answer 4

hmmmm....i think that is diffrent 4 every perosn with an eating disorder i have an eating disorder people tell me and i twig and i kno im underweight but when i look at myslef i c i very fat person... but some ppl have an eating disorder because they like looking like a twig...i persanly dont c myself as a twig mayb every1 else has distorted vision...ummm with the whole teen thing its just something that we do...sometimes 2 make each other feel better...i rlly dont kno what went wrong when i was growing up (i started 2 become anerxic when i was 10) its justs something i started doing i was actully totaly unaware of it it rlly starts of with something small like cuting out all snacks and then cuting out dinner....i think the resson y im like this is because i do rlly competative dance and there is always the presure 2 b skinny at dance...mayb also cause my life started 2 fall apart when i was 9 or 10 im not rlly sure but being like this makes me happy sometimes in a wierd way like i actully have control over something in my life...im 13 years old right now and i dont rlly have control over anything but how muc i eat and a few other things...i dont kno well i hope i helped u answer ur question...

Answer 5

the thing is those suffering from anorexia don't see themselves as being thin. I had a minor case where i dropped to 95lbs which was v underweight for my height but at time while my mother and such people told me I was too thin I couldnt see it. To be honest it was a control thing where I had to be thin,the skinnier the better..I believed that it was the only thing I had going for me. I developed all kinds of health problems then..my stomach has finally adjusted again thank God. Im a healthy 125lbs now, I guess it just dawned on me eventually that you cant live like that forever. It is so exhausting and stressful.

Answer 6

Eating disorders are very tricky things to understand if you don't have one. I had an a typical eating disorder, which second from being phobic of being sick so i didn't eat anything but a few rich tea biscuits a day. I then became anorexic, im 5 weeks into recovery right now. I think they don't like doing it to themselves, its painfull and hard, but its something they have control over, thats why some people excersise constantly, to be in control over something, just like eating is something a person has there own control over, say like if somethings gone wrong in there life, they take over something. Or if someone calls someone fat, it can really hurt someone that bad.

Answer 7

The fact of the matter is that oftentimes people with such eating disorders also suffer from BDD or body dysmorphic diseases so they don't see what you and I see.It is a shame that social pressures can add to the likelihood that these disorders can afflict someone.Parents can play a huge role in preventing this by educating and reinforcing a positive body image

Answer 8

Just because someone might have a eating disorder doesn't mean she WILL never have children be very depressed. That might just be the way her body is. She might eat healthy, people come in all different shapes and sizes.

Answer 9

People suffering from anorexia don't see themselves as skinny. They do hurt themselves but putting on weight is like a permanent stress factor. The idea that you control your body and its shape is very important. You do get over it with the help of a therapist.