Out of the Shadows

News Flash!!! This has been going on for a VERY long time. It is old news, and it's sad that people are just now figuring this stuff out. Young girls have been struggling with this for such a long time, and it is lasting throughout their life time because no one notices. Being a survivor of anorexia, I know this and I know that all of the girls and women on these websites feel they have no other person to go to...

Just something for you all to think about.

This group doesn't try to help one from over coming Anorexia or Bullemia. This makes me sick! I fought for years to over come this. I would never ever want to be this way again. I look very healthy and will stay this way. Where I live in Ca. This is a fad. Young girls wear these colored strings on their wrists. This is a fad here to see how you can look like a skeleton. A sick mind with a sick mind. Doesn't work. They encourage you and tell you how you can purge, starve etc. One cannot live like this. Eventually, one dies. I have tried to reach out to many with eating disorders. They don't listen. Because they will not admit that they are mentally ill. That is what it is. Mentally Ill. Until one can admit, the healing cannot begin. If you don't see the truth, you cannot admit the truth. This is sick! It is a feel sorry for me attitude. Don't feel sorry for these people. They don't deserve it. Last girl that died was 13. What a waste of life. Her parents wouldn't admit she was ill. This group brags about being Anorexic and Bullemic. They are not doing this to help anyone.

They can't even bring themselves to call it what it really is. Anorexia. Not Ana. Bulimia. Not Mia. They call them "Ana" and "Mia" like they're girlfriends and sugarcoat the damage they're doing to themselves and those they encourage to join them.

shadows? as a group, i'd say that they're clearly in the shadows. your title must then be a refrence to the adamant outsiders, such as yourself, who refuse to take there minds into those caves. posting an article such as this, is not just reckless, it is a rediculously unpleasant attempt at journalism, full of tunnel vision and negligable bias.
but, as i said, you're out of the shadows yourself, unable to aptly write about the desolation of the topic itself, because you refuse to look from inside.

you write in a flurry of manic conclusions derived from the depths of lukewarm lifetime specials and hardened medical professionals.
any eating disordered individual, i assure you, is maddened with isolation. no matter how many she or he is surrounded by, their mind is perpetually alone. pro-ana forums off salvation. redemption from icy solitude. as a matter of fact, many non-pro ana ed afflicted persons visit the sites as well for the very reasons stated.

pro-ana is such an obscure stance. much like pro-choice and others.

so while you writing about those poor little sticks, know that you are makng an epic mistake. would you care, if you must stand full-heartedly by this piece, to write about the overabundance of forums pertaining to pro-drug use and pro-*** before marriage and every other myriad you've neglected?

how do you assertain that pro-eating disorder forums be taken away while simultaneously letting the dieting industry get away with their devilish adds. nutrasystem and jenny craig directly, and i mean directly, correlate happiness with thinness? happy husbands with thinness? smiling faces with thinness?

and then, why does it all matter? how is it so sinnful that you feel you must intervine wth your silly little articles? how does the decaying of a self affect you any way? enlighten me.

the eating disordered do not want to be saved. so demote yourself to a watcher. the eating disordered want to die slowly and loudly. they want to be heard before expiring. so quit talking { or typing } and listen.

people don't want to understand the compulsion. one that is as ancient as prostitution.
tina peng, women have a facination with women that do not eat, that resonates in the fact that women have been oppressed. starving is control. puking is control. voting is control. sex is control. preparing dinner. throwing a man on the couch. independence. etcetera.
how can you as a female, not understand this? or at least wrap your mind around the idea? how foolish and brash.

eatng disorders are such complex compulsions, reasoning varying enormously, but i assure you, thinness is somewhere far down on the totem pole once the eating habits manifest. just like alcoholics. it's not so much about the drnkng or the taste. but rather the burn, the freedom, the repression.

i suggest a bit more empathy when you write. and maybe a different profession, such as cow calling or eating contests. something you are inept to do.

It is really sad to read some of the hateful, ignorant comments here. I guarantee that anyone who has experienced an eating disorder, or any kind of mental disorder for that matter, would agree that there is no way to just buck up and get over it. Would you say the same thing to an alcoholic ("why don't you just stop drinking?") or someone with OCD ("why can't you just stop washing your hands so much?"). I'm not an expert, but it seems to be similar to any other addiction -- it's an addiction to controlling your body. Just like most people can drink occasionally and not develop a problem, some people become dependent on alcohol and it spirals out of control. The way I see it, anorexia is very similar -- and the root of the problem is a chemical imbalance in the brain, just as it is with many other addictions. I haven't had experience with an eating disorder, but have a mental disorder, and I'm curious to find out if people who have dealt with an eating disorder agree with this comparison.

anorexia is a serious issue,though, just wanted to make that clear.

aneroxia is very serious issue but there are far worse groups that need to be deleted first.

It's funny how facebook has time to crack down on pro-aneroxic groups but have yet to crack down on group promoting terrorism or hate. How about getting rid of the group, "f**k israel and *** america"
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?sid=ec8199c9bed326cd16596cdabeeaf1f9&refurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fs.php%3Fsid%3Dec8199c9bed326cd16596cdabeeaf1f9%26init%3Dq%26sf%3Dr%26k%3D400000000010%26n%3D-1%26q%3Dfuk%2Bamerica%2Band%2Bisrael&gid=7805265210

I'm a bit confused by this article. I'm also angered and saddened by comments such as flavortangs below, but the other member responses adddress that unfortunate viewpoint better than I ever could. So I'll focus on confusion. I suffered from anorexia in my teens, then bulimia, then Eating Disorder NOS where I would binge/restrict/binge/restrict. Eating Disorders ruled my life for years and I finally broke at age 27. It became too much. Because of my personal experience (which was a living hell and while I now manage the binge urges through medication, I still suffer greatly at age 32 with related issues) I've done extensive browsing of these sites on youtube.com, especially. While some of the girls and women who go the sites and watch the videos definitely suffer from the DISEASE of anorexia, it seems many of the girls and women DO NOT have anorexia. If you read the comments carefully, they just want to lose weight and are looking for tips and support. Through no fault of their own, they don???t realize that anorexia isn???t just about losing weight and being thin. It???s a DISEASE often caused by and accompanied by deep rooted emotional distress and pain that, in the end, has nothing to do with losing weight. In my case it was extreme social anxiety. For someone else it could also be depression, as someone mentioned below. Very low self esteem is at the root. Perhaps there are websites I haven???t seen that are frequented by people who actually suffer from anorexia, the disease?

Eating disorders are not something someone wakes up one day and says, "Gee I think I'll try this today". A lot of times we don't realize there's something wrong with us until we look at picture suddenly and say, "Wow, was that really me?" and it could be that you were fat and now your thin or you were thin and now you're fat. Eating disorders affect many individuals and go to both extremes the thin/fat end of the spectrum. Yes, we do need support from our family and friends to get through the disease, but we do not need to be "fixed" or judged. We just need you to be there and help us back up when we do stumble down the hard road to recovery. Calling someone a LOSER because they have an eating disorder is not the best way to show support regardless of how good your intentions are towards them. The bottom line is that "you" and only "you" can make the decision to do something about the situation no amount of pleading or begging from loved ones or friends is going to do it for you. You have to take a stand, and change for yourself.

YES, anybody who is anorexic needs help. Let me say ,"IF you are losing extreme unhealthy amounts of weight for attention, you will get plenty of attention at your funeral. OF course, perhaps when your taking those 50 some odd laxatives, you'll end up with plenty of attention when the laxatives make themselves explosively known in a public place. There are no Winners in the world of eating disorders only LOSERS. However I 100% agree that anorexics and bulemics need to be covered by they're medical insurance provider just as people who qualify as obese are covered for stomach stapling and lapband, as all of these extremes are a disease and can lead to death.

if you school yourself to be included in the world of anorexia for attention, i'm sure you'll get alot of attention at your funeral, or maybe in a public place when the 50 some odd laxatives you take to stay thin seem to explosively start to work. Bottom line in the world of anorexia there are no WINNERS only LOSERS, and yes these people need help and most of the help they need comes from the medical community, and they absolutely should be covered by their insurance companies as much as obese people are covered for stomach stapling and lapband by their insurance companies.

This is most certin a disorder that will take your life apart. Family and friends will get hurt. If u love these people please get help, and don't listen to thoes people that think "Just Eat!" will do the trick. It also took a while to get where you are, it will take just as long or longer to get back. If you are that lucky. I am here to say "WE" do get help...its a problem that was brought on by alot of many things I could not cope with. I never said that I wanted to be thin!!!! I never thought I wanted to be a Teen again...I wanted some controll of my life, and eating was it.

I don not feel that these web sites should be up and running. I think they only make the anorexic or bulemic become more addicted. this is an addictiction that the person needs to get professional help for. It's not a choice, it's an illness and an addiction. I would appreciate it if people that have never had to deal with someone with an eating disorder would mind their own business. This is recognized an an emotional and physical disorder that requires intensive treatment to overcome.