Essay about Pro-Anorexia Websites

The author is not even preventing from people having eating disorders or giving advice or suggestions. Mim Udovitch is just presenting the audience with facts and experiences from people suffering from anorexia or bulimia. The article is just making the problems of high fatal rates of mental illness from people suffering from bulimia and anorexia obvious to the adults. The group of people that mainly read The New York Times is adults. Ken Jackson believes that The New York Times should be publishing articles about people who want help and methods of helping them. The true meaning behind the article is not being shown because the article is covered with facts and experiences. The author did not stress enough on improving the lives of many individuals suffering from eating disorders. Udovitch should be inspiring people with eating disorders to treat themselves and seek help.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder and a mental health condition that could potentially be life-threatening. People with anorexia try to keep their weight as low as possible by restricting the amount of food they eat. They often have a distorted image of themselves, thinking that they're fat when they're not.  Some people with the condition also exercise excessively, and some eat a lot of food in a short space of time (binge eating) and then make themselves sick. People affected by anorexia often go to great attempts to hide their behaviour from their family and friends by lying about eating and what they have eaten. Anorexia is linked to

Dying To Be Thin, Anorexia: Friend or Foe?, and Bulimia Nervosa: Friend or Foe? The Pros and Cons of Bulimia Nervosa discuss the eating disorders anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Each is valuable to the clinician because they explore the attitudes, both pro and con, of those afflicted with eating disorders.

For many the term “Anorexia” conjures up memories of bone thin, weight obsessed teenage girls, models, and actresses. However, as the spotlight has been shined on Anorexia bringing this secretive and quiet disorder to a wider public perception, many still suffer in silence: either too ashamed to seek treatment, or because of an improper diagnosis.

After reviewing the “Dying to be Thin” (2000) video and the two studies on anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) my view of these two disorders has been expanded and somewhat altered. The “Dying to Be Thin” video looked at the history, triggers, medical complications and treatments. It documents the struggles of models, dancers and teenagers with the disease. The two studies on AN and BN asked patients in a therapeutic setting to write letters to their disorders from the friend and foe perspective. The results were interesting and merit further studies.

Incidences of Anorexia Nervosa have appeared to increase sharply in the USA, UK and western European countries since the beginning of the 60s (Gordon, 2001). The increasing prevalence of the disease has led the World Health Organisation to declare eating disorders a global priority area within adolescent mental health (Becker et al. 2011). Anorexia has in many ways become a modern epidemic (Gordon, 2000) and with a mortality rate of 10% per decade (Gorwood et al. 2003), the highest of any mental disorder (Bulik et al. 2006), it is an epidemic that social and biological scientists have been working tirelessly to understand.

say they “may provide one outlet for the promulgation of the thin-ideal through advertisements and conversations among peers,” (3). However, research has been done regarding websites that support eating disorders and their habits, like Pro-Anorexia (Pro-Ana) or Pro-Bulimia (Pro-Mia) websites and forums. These websites promote eating disorders by defining them as lifestyle choices. Levine and Murnen state that “their ‘thinspirational’ images of emaciation and their explicit behavioral instructions for attaining and sustaining the thin ideal are intended to reinforce the identity and practices of those already entrenched in AN or BN,” (23). Since children and young adults are impressionable, they may see these pro-eating disorder websites as positive and start to glorify eating disorders.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, anorexia holds one of the highest death rates out of all mental conditions. If girls read informative sites rather than biased bone-loving sites, they would realize that the risk outweighs the benefit. If girls read informative sites, they would learn that in an anorexic person, “the body is denied the essential nutrients it needs to function normally, so it is forced to slow down all of its processes to conserve

One website I found is called the Pro-Ana website. It details how one can be anorexic. For instance, it states, “Fasting makes me feel soooo good and strong but here are some tips to make it easier.” To me this is disturbing and this person obviously has a need to be in control of all situations. Then it goes on to list fasting tips, such as, Spin around in circles, it will make you too dizzy and nauseous to eat. It also suggests taking a nap, and other methods to keep oneself from eating. To me this is disturbing since it tries to promote being anorexic as completely normal. However, the truth is anorexia can kill you or I should say will kill you eventually. Yes, sites like this should be disabled and or at least regulated. I say disabled

Engel, B., Reiss, N., & Domback, M. (2007, February 2). Introduction To Eating Disorders. Retrieved

In my research, I explored the world of eating disorders. I wanted to see if there was anything specifically encouraging eating disorders and if there was a way to stop it. Eating disorders affect the community greatly because often times, they go unchecked or unrecognized. As a recovered anorexic, I feel it’s very important to address this issue. It’s a very big problem that is often not addressed at all, or is seen as normal, like counting calories. I hoped to find a way to improve the way that eating disorders are viewed and explain to people about what defines an eating disorder, because many people will never know if it is not explicitly explained to them. My study’s purpose is to bring light into the dark world of eating disorders

This paper is a critical analysis of how research into pro-anorexia websites effects is insufficient for determining their influence on body dissatisfaction, dieting and anorexia nervosa (AN) disorder. These unorthodox services have received outrage in recent New Zealand (NZ) news coverage because they are seen to advocate engagement in eating disorder behaviour, and disengagement from professional treatment (Hawkes, 2017).

An analysis done by the National Institute of Health revealed, that plenty of Pro-Anorexia or "Thinspiration" websites and blogs support extreme weight loss and eating disorders, masquerade as fitness inspiration websites. This caused plenty of body dysmorphia sufferers to restrict their diets, which is potentially hazardous as the content should supposedly be devoted to healthy pursuits. Social media is also an outlet where a person can be exposed to body shaming, which serves as a trigger for those already suffering from the

     When I think of anorexia, a few things come to mind. I think of really bad episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 and Baywatch in which females, ususally teenagers, starve themselves and take diet pills. The eating problem is always resolved within the timespan of one 30 minute episode. From the research I've done thus far on anorexia, I now know that this is a very unrealistic representation of what is actually a very serious disease.

How many of you have ever battled an eating disorder or known someone with an eating disorder? One or two of every 100 students will struggle or have struggled with an eating disorder. An anonymous quote from someone who struggled an eating disorder once said “Nothing matters when I’m thin”. Anyone of us in this room is at risk of an eating disorder. Females have to maintain that ‘normal’ look to fit in with society. More guys are seeking help for eating disorders as well. Guys with eating disorders tend to focus more on athletic appearance or success than just on looking thin. I’m going to inform you today about anorexia; what it is, signs, causes, effects, and possible treatments to help it.