"Eat Less" // Eating disorders are NOT glamourous
As a regular user of Tumblr, I follow a variation of blogs. Some with pretty girls, bands and photography. One thing I despise seeing on my blog every day is people romanticising anorexia or bulimia nervosa as they are both extremely horrible mental health issues that have ended lives.
Anorexia Nervosa:
An emotional disorder characterised by the obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat.
Bulimia Nervosa:
An emotional disorder characterised by a distorted body image and an obsessive desire to lose weight, in which bouts of extreme over-eating are followed by fasting or self-induced vomiting or purging.
A bit grim, right? I've been dealing with bulimia since the age of 14, just before I turned 15 and I am now nearly 18. CAHMS haven't exactly been great about it, and neither have the mass media. My aggression towards all the positive press about it...
Firstly the E4 program 'Skins' thoughtfully introduced characters with mental illnesses such as Cassie, who suffered from depression and anorexia nervosa, Effie, who suffered with schizophrenia, and Jay, who was high on the autistic spectrum and also had a minor case of depression. As soon as people saw how beautiful and gorgeous these characters were, the traumas they were acting out and portraying were ignored. People thought these mental illnesses were what contributed to the beauty of these characters. Anorexia must have been what made Cassie "quirky". Autism was suddenly hilarious and schizophrenia must have been what bagged Effie all the caring attention from her very attractive boyfriend, Freddie. Therefore, viewers started blogging stuff on their tumblr, instagram and whatever accounts such as black and white photos of these characters with the sub-titles of some of there lines...
This isn't really setting the next generation of young people on the right path, thinking it's healthy to develop an eating disorder because a pretty girl on TV had one who was just acting.
Fashion is also being put in the spot light for promoting eating disorders. The high street clothing store Urban Outfitters was slammed earlier this year for releasing t-shirts with statements such as "Depression" and "Eat less" branded onto them. Ironically, both models were stick thin yet wearing both t-shirts proudly with broad smiles. Of course the models didn't design these t-shirts, but surely they would have thought about what they were promoting through modelling these garments?
A small clothing range within the renowned department store 'Harvey Nichols' also launched a fashion photo shoot with the theme of 'schizophrenia', one of the most devastating and scary mental illnesses. Again, beautiful models were selected to act out and model clothes to try and relate to this theme, throwing silk every where. Strange considering silk resembles luxury and glamor yet schizophrenia is a killer, and not a glamorous one either!
I would decline any offer of promoting a mental illness in order to romanticise it to young girls who are influenced by the hypodermic syringe that the media injects us with, making us follow these pushy guidelines as to what we should be. I never thought it was going to get to the point where the public were being pushed towards becoming mentally ill though.
WHY are anorexia and bulimia nervosa not glamorous?
If you asked any young, naive girl who reads glossy magazines and idolises Cara Delevigne they would probably tell you they would love to be a size 6. This was me at a young age and unfortuatley I went to stupid lengths to drop to this size which soon developed into habits. The same thing happens with 1 in 4 people in the UK. And it's not just girls either. There has been an increase from 2008 in the amount of boys who suffer from an eating disorder. It all seems like a good idea at the time when you want to be thin, lean, toned so you can "fit in" but worst comes to worse when the health complications set in and you know you're trapped and need serious help to stop.
Consequences of both bulimia and anorexia nervosa:
Broken blood vessels in face and bags under eyes, extreme tiredness, dehydration, fainting spells, bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort, cramps, internal bleeding and infections, laxative dependency causing damage to bowels, liver and kidney damage, loss of tooth enamel from self induced vomiting, upset of body's mineral/fluid balance possibly causing heart palputations or heart attacks, regular sore throats due to acidity of vomit, swollen glands under the neck, stomach rupture, vomiting blood whilst purging, rupture of the eusophagus (upper gastric tract), depression, distorted body image, suicidal tendencies, sudden impulses of aggressive behaviour.
Does that sound glamorous to do? To suffer with? To put up with if you love the person who's destroying themselves? Of course it doesn't but then that's your choice. I just don't want any one else I know going through it or watching someone go through it. If you're watching someone suffer or are a sufferer yourself, here's some self-help methods.
So instead of making people believe mental health problems and eating disorders are cool and quirky, try and help them. You may just have a positive impact.
For more information on eating disorders, because I'm not like a psychologist, go to www.b-eat.co.uk to get an insight on binging, bulimia and anorexia nervosa. It provides advice for sufferers and friends, family and partners of sufferers.
Anorexia Nervosa:
An emotional disorder characterised by the obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat.
Bulimia Nervosa:
An emotional disorder characterised by a distorted body image and an obsessive desire to lose weight, in which bouts of extreme over-eating are followed by fasting or self-induced vomiting or purging.
A bit grim, right? I've been dealing with bulimia since the age of 14, just before I turned 15 and I am now nearly 18. CAHMS haven't exactly been great about it, and neither have the mass media. My aggression towards all the positive press about it...
Firstly the E4 program 'Skins' thoughtfully introduced characters with mental illnesses such as Cassie, who suffered from depression and anorexia nervosa, Effie, who suffered with schizophrenia, and Jay, who was high on the autistic spectrum and also had a minor case of depression. As soon as people saw how beautiful and gorgeous these characters were, the traumas they were acting out and portraying were ignored. People thought these mental illnesses were what contributed to the beauty of these characters. Anorexia must have been what made Cassie "quirky". Autism was suddenly hilarious and schizophrenia must have been what bagged Effie all the caring attention from her very attractive boyfriend, Freddie. Therefore, viewers started blogging stuff on their tumblr, instagram and whatever accounts such as black and white photos of these characters with the sub-titles of some of there lines...
This isn't really setting the next generation of young people on the right path, thinking it's healthy to develop an eating disorder because a pretty girl on TV had one who was just acting.
Fashion is also being put in the spot light for promoting eating disorders. The high street clothing store Urban Outfitters was slammed earlier this year for releasing t-shirts with statements such as "Depression" and "Eat less" branded onto them. Ironically, both models were stick thin yet wearing both t-shirts proudly with broad smiles. Of course the models didn't design these t-shirts, but surely they would have thought about what they were promoting through modelling these garments?
I would decline any offer of promoting a mental illness in order to romanticise it to young girls who are influenced by the hypodermic syringe that the media injects us with, making us follow these pushy guidelines as to what we should be. I never thought it was going to get to the point where the public were being pushed towards becoming mentally ill though.
WHY are anorexia and bulimia nervosa not glamorous?
If you asked any young, naive girl who reads glossy magazines and idolises Cara Delevigne they would probably tell you they would love to be a size 6. This was me at a young age and unfortuatley I went to stupid lengths to drop to this size which soon developed into habits. The same thing happens with 1 in 4 people in the UK. And it's not just girls either. There has been an increase from 2008 in the amount of boys who suffer from an eating disorder. It all seems like a good idea at the time when you want to be thin, lean, toned so you can "fit in" but worst comes to worse when the health complications set in and you know you're trapped and need serious help to stop.
Consequences of both bulimia and anorexia nervosa:
Broken blood vessels in face and bags under eyes, extreme tiredness, dehydration, fainting spells, bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort, cramps, internal bleeding and infections, laxative dependency causing damage to bowels, liver and kidney damage, loss of tooth enamel from self induced vomiting, upset of body's mineral/fluid balance possibly causing heart palputations or heart attacks, regular sore throats due to acidity of vomit, swollen glands under the neck, stomach rupture, vomiting blood whilst purging, rupture of the eusophagus (upper gastric tract), depression, distorted body image, suicidal tendencies, sudden impulses of aggressive behaviour.
Does that sound glamorous to do? To suffer with? To put up with if you love the person who's destroying themselves? Of course it doesn't but then that's your choice. I just don't want any one else I know going through it or watching someone go through it. If you're watching someone suffer or are a sufferer yourself, here's some self-help methods.
- Cover your mirror with post it notes that have positive quotes or describe things you like about yourself.
- For friends: Have an allocated time to use the toilet after the sufferer has eaten. This is a good technique my counsellor told me. If they have been in the toilet for over 5 minutes, you may gently question them as to why they have taken so long in the toilet, if they have purged and they must give truthful answers. If you are of the same gender, go to the toilet and stand outside, monitor them.
- Eat a balanced diet. Three meals a day. Exercise regularly, once a day for at least an hour. It doesn't matter about the size you are just live a healthy lifestyle.
- For friends: Reward the sufferer if they have eaten a balanced meal/haven't purged for a week. If they have fasted or purged, make them aware that you are concerned and that the health implications will not be good for them.
- Have a list of things you like about your life or yourself. Come up with ten things and keep the list with you so it is there to look at.
- Keep a record of what you eat, when you eat, how you feel after etc. There is an app for smart phones called "Rise up and recover" which is a food diary I have and it is brilliant.
So instead of making people believe mental health problems and eating disorders are cool and quirky, try and help them. You may just have a positive impact.
For more information on eating disorders, because I'm not like a psychologist, go to www.b-eat.co.uk to get an insight on binging, bulimia and anorexia nervosa. It provides advice for sufferers and friends, family and partners of sufferers.
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