eating disorders...?

actually, sometimes i htink im anorexic. for no reason, ill get get sick of food, and stop eating for like, a week, then come back slowly. im like, 105 pounds at best

hi eris,
it's nice to know others on this board aren't "too smart" to have eating disorders...i hated it when people would say that if they found out i used to have an eating disorder.
i was bulimic and an extreme control freak about intake that wasn't going to be hurled back up for almost ten years. i have not purged for about three years, and i've really relaxed the old sgt.'no food for you' as well. i've always had a love/hate relationship with food, and my personality makes it very easy for me to get consumed by certain causes/behaviours, whether it's food or drugs or a general lack of zing for life. i guess i will always have an unnatural preoccupation with food, but it's like narcanon, once a user always a user. i make a concerted effort to enjoy living, and eating has become a really wonderful part of the journey. keep on doing whatever it is you're doing to win the battle against anorexia, you deserve to live well.

when i was 14 i was anorexic. ever since then i've had issues with food. issues that i can't even explain. like eating when i'm not hungry and not being able to controll myself. i always always always gain weight when i'm depressed [like right now]. i just gorge myself. it's awful. i don't know if this is a dissorder or not but i know it's deffenitely something that takes me sooooo much willpower to controll.

i go between binging and starving myself..cuas ei gain weight veyr easily

i've had bulemia

Interesting how there's a sudden flood of new responses to Eris's original post..

My girlfriend has been dealing with anorexia (with bulemic tendencies) for ten years or so.. She's made a commitment to recovery, and now she's in a treatment program and doing well. I've come to learn a lot about eating disorders along the way, for better or for worse, and I don't know if I can think of any other sort of disease that's as terrible as anorexia. I think anyone here who has suffered from it will concur that it's not just about food and looking thin. It's like a long, painful form of suicide that hurts everyone who comes into contact with it. Horrible, horrible stuff.

I can definitely see why that would be hurtful, but I imagine that people might sometimes have good intentions. I mean, blatantly asking if you have an eating disorder is just plain insensitive. But speaking personally, I've sometimes looked at pics here and recognized physical features that remind me of my girlfriend's anorexic state. Then I get concerned that someone or other doesn't realize that she has a legitimate problem (which is fairly common), and I'd like to make sure everything is ok, but how should one go about doing that without sounding insensitive or criticizing?

I don't want to be the ED police, but if one of you more medically-inclined folks noticed that one of the girls had something on her skin that looked like melanoma, would you not be concerned? Would you hesitate to make a discrete inquiry just to make sure that it wasn't something unnoticed and life-threatening?

Just some food for thought, and absolutely no pun intended.

there are more signs of eating disorders than just 'looking' skinny, though, and for most of those you have to actually KNOW the person before you can suggest that they have an eating disorder. there are people who, technically, can be considered 'anorexic' due to their height, weight, bodyfat, but don't have any of the psychological characteristics that come with having an eating disorder. to suggest to someone that they have an eating disorder, especially if you don't know them, is extremely insulting if they don't really have them.

besides, even if they do, the more you accuse them of having one, the more they'll deny it, and the more they'll resist treatment.

eating disorder? if i eat once or twice a week i'm good i just forget to eat alot of the time but appearantly my body is able to handle it since i have never had any major weight problems since highschool

True, true, but you must admit there's a difference between looking skinny and looking malnourished.. But you're absolutely right about needing to know the person. It's no use being a hypochondriac about other people, especially if you don't know them personally. But sometimes it's hard not to feel some iota of concern.

You'd better believe it. I was surprised too, 'cause when I was poking around to see if anyone was discussing EDs, I only found your post (and one or two more), with no replies! It seemed strange, considering the demographics of victims of EDs and how a good number of people here probably fit into that slice of society.

As an all-seeing, all-knowing SG, do you have any words of wisdom I can pass on to my g/f (an anorexic in treatment)?

Yes, all hail Toreena, reviver of the dead thread! BTW, are you interested in being the official SG on our Bowling for Columbine outing.

Eris: Thanks for the advice and the offer. I'll pass it on!