A support group is meant to support something positive, not destructive. If most "pro-ana" sites were actually supporting recovery, we wouldn't have anything to say, would we? But they don't -- if they did, they wouldn't be "pro-ana". Rather, they would be "anti-ana" and focused on eradicating the disease.

And that's what anorexia and bulimia are. They are not a "way of life", they are not an "alternative" lifestyle, they are DISEASES. Most of these websites (actually, all of them that I've looked at, although I have by no means read all in existence) downplay that little fact and provide encouragement for young women to not only STAY sick, but get even sicker.

You're kidding yourself, sincity. Please get help.

Edited for typos.

[ 12 April 2005: Message edited by: Zoot ]

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Originally posted by Zoot:
Ummm..... Tips on how to not consume calories, or to burn more calories, celebrating more lost weight, talking about how cool and different "anas" are, etc, isn't saying "Hey, girls, be like me..."? Get real.

A support group is meant to support something positive, not destructive. If most "pro-ana" sites were actually supporting recovery, we wouldn't have anything to say, would we? But they don't -- if they did, they wouldn't be "pro-ana". Rather, they would be "anti-ana" and focused on eradicating the disease.

And that's what anorexia and bulimia are. They are not a "way of life", they are not an "alternative" lifestyle, they are DISEASES. Most of these websites (actually, all of them that I've looked at, although I have by no means read all in existence) downplay that little fact and provide encouragement for young women to not only STAY sick, but get even sicker.

You're kidding yourself, sincity. Please get help.

Edited for typos.

[ 12 April 2005: Message edited by: Zoot ]

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I understand what you're trying to do here. Here's a hypothetical situation I came up with to explain to another proana-basher:

I have cancer. I've spent years getting treatment, but chemotherapy and radiation have done nothing to stop the spread of my leukemia. All they have done is make me sick and unable to enjoy the last years of my life.

One day I decide to stop treatment and embrace my abbreviated lifespan, with humor and good cheer. I find many other cancer sufferers doing the same thing. I'm overjoyed to find myself no longer alone, finally among some people who understand.

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http://www.livejournal.com/users/i_liek_2_strarv/1184.html?thread=26528#t26528

So is it that "pro-ana" people are actually people who've given up hope returning to normality?

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So is it that "pro-ana" people are actually people who've given up hope returning to normality?

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Good question Mandos. I'm not so sure they see it as abnormal. That's the problem. When your body is starving the mind doesn't work the same.

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Originally posted by Zoot:
I'd be happy to answer that question as soon as you explain how it would be relevant to my earlier post.

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Because, although your response was in no way inappropriate, I feel that anyone who has experienced an ED first-hand still, in some ways, can identify with these communities. For example, there are a few (Ruby's Gloomy Place, Green Tea Talk to name a couple) are mistakenly seen as pro-ED when in fact most of the users make no bones (no pun intended) about the hellish state an ED puts you in.

The moderators can be very strict about enforcing a no-tip policy, these sites are about support, somewhere a sufferer can go to talk openly without being judged or told to "get help immediately". They already treat that as a given.

As for reactions from non-sufferers... It's beyond me what sort of reaction, other than horror, one should have when reading a conversation about whether or not taking heroin to stave off weight would be a good idea. Especially when some of the alternate "helpful" suggestions include ephedrine and methamphetimines. And this is as casual as suggesting a brand of body lotion. How else does one react?

I don't lose weight nor do I look skeletal. I was wondering if I have hypothyroid?
What's the secret?

Listening to these girls talk with so much pride is sickening.

[ 05 June 2005: Message edited by: Lukewarm ]

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Originally posted by Lukewarm:
Hell, I probaby dont eat much more than 600 calories a day and I'm a 170 pound male

[ 05 June 2005: Message edited by: Lukewarm ]

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Hell, I probaby dont eat much more than 600 calories a day and I'm a 170 pound male.

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According to this:

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The average person requires about 2,500 calories of food energy per day for the body to function normally. However, the average Canadian consumes about 3,400 calories a day.

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Spanish health authority bans website "promoting" anorexia

MADRID (AFP) - Spanish authorities have banned an internet site which was about to run a competition for young women suffering from anorexia, a regional health spokesman said.

"This kind of thing is just not acceptable," a spokesman for the Madrid health and consumer department told AFP, while a statement by the authority condemned a scheme which it viewed as "posing a health threat, above all for those suffering a food-related disorder."

After being alerted by police to the competition on the Porcelain Princesses (princesasdeporcelana.es.kz) website the health authority threatened legal action, prompting the site to suspend its services.

Aware that recent studies say some 100,000 young women in Spain are anorexia sufferers, Spain has cracked down on the problem.

Last September, Madrid's prestigious Pasarela Cibeles fashion show banned five models from participating because they did not meet World Health Organisation (WHO) weight guidelines saying that a body mass index of less than 18 (56 kilograms for 1.75 meters or 123 pounds for five feet eight inches) is unhealthy.

The competition, which would have run for a fortnight from January 13, offered points to those reducing their calorie intake to a minimum, with starvation rations of 50-150 calories a day worth nine points while "the honour of a podium placing" and a maximum ten points was offered for not eating all day.

Prior to its closure the website said in a disclaimer it advised visitors to "not follow" advice they might read there.

Following the furore, the site is currently down, save for a message advising that "princesasdeporcelana has been suspended."

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Their existence on the net is nothing new. But their presence on social networking websites, which have rules against posting harmful content, raises the groups to a new respectability.

Previously, people on such internet groups remained relatively anonymous, and the groups, being small, were sometimes hard to find. But on some social networking sites, users have real names and faces, and are more accessible than before.

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Considering Facebook's slow or nonexistent response to "harmful content" in the past, I'm skeptical about anything being done about the these types of groups, but I see what the article is saying about their gaining legitimacy by virtue of being on Facebook. There's strength and support in numbers, especially of people who use their real names and identifying information. That takes it a step beyond anonymous posters on something like a pro-ana message board.

But the lack of anonymity is a two-way street, and I imagine that people who attach their real names to comments in an online discussion might think twice about what they end up posting. In that respect, maybe there's potential for members of these groups to come to terms with having an eating disorder? The article suggests that this might be the case, after an initial negative influence.

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Dr John Morgan, a consultant psychiatrist St George's University Hospital, London, who specialises in eating disorders, says these groups run the risk of glamorising unhealthy behaviour.

"It's become a lot more interactive, which is more worrying. It much more rapidly reinforces the negative views these people have of themselves and provides an instant response to what they're looking for."

But the impact of these groups is not entirely negative - and if properly regulated, they can be used for positive means. He says they can mirror group therapy, an important part of treatment, and help draw people out of their isolation.

"I have had some patients who have gone on pro-ana websites and then gone on to seek treatment," he says. "It's very daunting, and just having someone to hold your hand and explain the process can make a big difference."

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[ 14 August 2007: Message edited by: M.Gregus ]

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Originally posted by Michelle:
A pro-ana group that Facebook refuses to delete.

This one is particularly bad because they invite girls to post pictures of themselves, and then they're brutal about them, calling emaciated girls "fat". The whole idea of the group is that they're going to be "brutally honest" in it and tell girls how fat they are when they post their pictures, for "thinspiration". Gross.

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