Pro-ana, or pro-anorexia, sites have been infuriating the Internet for years by proclaiming eating disorders are not disorders at all, but lifestyle choices. Just like my entire high school, they eventually made their way to Facebook, but according to Newsweek, the social-networking site du jour isn't having it. Facebook regularly deletes groups, citing promotion of self-harm and harm to others.
How's that working out? Not terribly, if you only measure the surface. None of my "pro-ana" or "ana" searches returned anything fruitful, but these groups are way too savvy to give it away in the title. Most overt pro-ana groups have become private or operate under less obvious names. The better to avoid turning up in search results.
But even while they hide beneath the radar, I didn't have to search hard to find "support" groups with people looking for dieting tips and tricks. "Don't always purge until the morning. And I'm packing the weight back on. Any suggestions?" That kind of support. It's like there are two conversations going on: one genuinely looking to break the eating-disorder cycle and another looking to perpetuate it.
To be fair, the majority are legitimate recovery groups. But unlike the more, um, "inclusive" groups, those focused on getting better openly and adamantly oppose pro-ana talk, clearly telling users to look elsewhere if they've come to post measurements and pictures.
Flash Lights
Isabella Oliver
Mon Showroom
LOL really Facebook deleted these, but still have fad "dieting" ads all over it's site. While I personally think pro-ana websites are disgusting, I also think it's disgusting for facebook to remove them from there site while advertising dieting that isn't properly medically researched.
1hear hear, bastyle - you are SO right. "i lost 45 pounds in two weeks!" what a load of BS
2How can anything that can potentially kill you be considered anything but a disorder?!?! The people who think anorexia is a "lifestyle choice" are as messed up mentally as those who practice anorexia.
3Those who consider anorexia a lifestyle choice usually are anorexic.
4I have lived with an eating disorder for almost 10 years, I know the mentality that comes with it and its self destructiveness BUT you reason it all out in the end. I had joined some groups, to gain support but ended up mostly talking about the BEST way to continue, You really suffer alone when you have an eating disorder, and finding those who share that same diagnosis? is nothing short of a miracle, you dont feel alone anymore, you can tell the horrible details and not feel scared or worried, you can joke about it even and its not taboo.
Facebook should absolutely purge (no pun intended) the Pro-ana Pro-Mia sites but in turn not advertise diet crap.
5I think that these sites will find a way to exist- you really cannot do much. It is important that blantantly pro sites get removed but besides that I advise that when someone searches for these sites- google and facebook have ads that pop-up for healthy eating and nutrition groups or sites.
6I don't see any problem with the use of "lifestyle choice." It's a choice, isn't it?
That's not to say it's not a problem. I guess I'm just not willing to say that everyone who makes decisions that might harm their body has no control over their own behavior.
7so would these supporters consider "cutting" a lifestyle choice too?
8Pop...I see your point, but I think the reason a lot of people don't consider it a full out choice is because much like drug addiction something is going on with the chemistry of the brain and it is different from someone who doesn't binge/purge/starve themselves. So while the first time you do it you made a choice the second and 300th time is almost a compulsion. Also if you look at another component of some eating disorders Body Dysmorphic Disorder when a person doesn't see themselves ad the world sees them you have to know that there is something "Wrong" in that persons brain and it is not a choice.
9Pop, its not a choice when you are in it believe me!! If I could have stopped I would have in a second.
just like cutting its a coping mechanism.
10Drug Addiction, Cutting, Eating disorders etc aren't about the act but about control i.e. control feelings, control what happens to my body etc. Which to many seems odd because it is clear from the outside looking in that people with these diseases are out of control.
11I definitely question if it is a choice because while some people may do this to themselves and be able to snap out of it, the majority can't. I did a lot of papers and research on this in high school and college because I found it so difficult to grasp how someone could do that to themselves to be thin. It is definitely psychological- these women know they need help but they are sucked in and can't stop. I view it as any addiction - needs professional help. I don't see it as a choice. In fact, I view smoking similarly. There are millions of smokers that would quit tomorrow but they can't.
12Basty thats exactly right. It is about control. Its also extremely satisfying as wierd as that might sound.
13I do not agree that it is a "choice", anymore than being an alcoholic is a choice. I think it is a mental disorder of sorts that manifests itself in actions. I have not had a disorder like this, but people very close to me have. I feel for people in this situation, and I wish there was a widely successful way to overcome it.
I have to admit one time I was curious...and I did a search and found a page that was dedicated to a girls "lovely bones"...her hip bones protruding out of her skin. It was almost as if the site creator and her "followers" saw the refusal of nutrition as noble. Almost the way some religions use fasting as a way to enlightenment through purity and the lack of endulgence. With eating disorders, I think it is more about having total control over one aspect of your life.
14Maybe it's just an issue of semantics for me. But people make choices every day, some of them very bad. Perhaps many of them have disorders and they need help to make better choices. But to me it's still a choice, because if something isn't a choice it means there isn't something you can do to fix it.
I mean, you can't just decide not to have cancer. But people decide to stop smoking all the time.
I'm not trying to trivialize addiction and/or eating disorders. I think they are debilitating and I have watched people suffer from them greatly.
15http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=a5309247f27c9d0fda58d60efbe00f28&r...
16Tried to post a link, but it got flagged of course. Facebook allows "Fat sexy chicks" groups, which I'd argue are just as unhealthy as pro-Ana groups.
17It is a "choice" in the beginning. but once into it? its no longer one.
smoking and Anorexia. two completely different "addictions" you wont find smoking in the DSM.
18I guess that's kind of off-topic for me to point out. My point is just that it's either all or nothing. Should facebook allow groups that promote unhealthy behavior? Should they ban all such groups? Where is the line? Etc, etc.
19Not that I have any real answers for these questions myself, just something I'm thinking about.
I think that's what it is semantics. Unlike cancer which can be cured, addictions cannot making it even more of a hideous diseases...you will always be an addict ( you will always be sick). Once you are treated you will be a recovering addict but you will have to work at it everyday, and do the "work" that is necessary to stay well for the rest of your life.
20when people ask me , how did you get over your ED, I tell them "I didnt" I just deal with it daily, and by daily, i mean hourly.
21No you won't find smoking but you do find nicotine addiction in DSM-IV. There are obvious differences- but they are both addictions that many (not all) people have a difficult if not impossible time stopping.
22Question, does facebook still allow pictures of drunk chicks passed out? Because I would say those should be removed too. If the site is going to be clean it should be clean all the way around that's the problem when you censor one thing you then need to reassess your stance on many other things.
23Also I'm finding pro-binge drinking groups and cocaine addict support groups that seem to be more about talking about how wicked awesome coke is.
24Bast- I am definitely finding plenty of groups with galleries of passed out ladies.
25Not to mention, ladies drunkenly grinding on people and licking eachother and a lovely picture of what appears to be a young man pooping on the floor.
Ugh I knew the drunk passed out chick where still there...that's just as bad as pro ana sites. I guess things people don't understand i.e. anorexia provoke fear and disgust therefore you feel the need to remove it....however girls binge drinking, pictures of young women passed out in their own vomit is considered on some level normal and is allowed on facebook!
26They may have deleted the main group that caused the media uproar, though, because I can't seem to find it.
27Perhaps it's an issue of degree more than anything.
Addiction is a disease, and you can be addicted to anything... porn, food, cigarettes, shopping etc.
But you can have milder forms of these problems that are more like choices and less like disorders.
I guess that's what I'm saying.
28how can anyone be pro anorexia?
29To play devil's advocate... could a possible benefit to one of those groups be that the membership to it on a public website might alert a anorexic's friends or family to the issue who may not have realized it before hand?
Just a thought. Our sorority used facebook as evidence to deal with issues of alcoholism with girls unwilling to admit to it.
30So sad
why...
31These kind of groups are so destructive. As someone who was anorexic for a long time, it's often the "support" sites that end up giving out the most "tips" to girls with eating disorders. Even those that don't mean to often end up having a lot of triggers that can really set you back.
32"Addiction" is not a diagnosis in the DSM, but substance abuse and substance dependence ARE, and the clinician specifies at diagnosis which particular 'substance' is being used. If you want to get truly semantic, probably half of the DSM diagnoses could be offered as some version of an addiction. Some people are just 'addicted' to particular beliefs, which lead them into dangerous territory. Food for thought.
33"To play devil's advocate... could a possible benefit to one of those groups be that the membership to it on a public website might alert a anorexic's friends or family to the issue who may not have realized it before hand?"
I would think so.
34There are also groups out there for ED recovery and support groups for those who aren't pro-ana, but not necessarily recovering.
People who haven't suffered from one don't understand. No one truly can believe its really a "lifestyle". It is a disorder. But there are also so, so many "triggers" in the real world. Trust me, I've been hospitalized a few times and have tried so hard to get better. But it is incredibly difficult to be healthy or "normal" when there are so many thin models and even everyday women/girls you see everywhere. A big "trigger" for me is having people giving up on me, leaving me, etc. It is NOT just about being "thin". And it is not difficult to be sucked in- and once you are it's nearly impossible to stop. You can easily learn the calories in everything, how many calories you're burning, etc.
But as far as these Pro-ana groups go, I am pretty positive they are doing nothing to help themselves. It does not make you happy, and only keeps you from living. However, once it becomes an addiction, as well as a coping mechanism, it's not something you can stop (not on your own at least). It becomes second nature- that could possibly be why some people call it a lifestyle, even though it really isn't.
35"Also I'm finding pro-binge drinking groups and cocaine addict support groups that seem to be more about talking about how wicked awesome coke is."
Sorry, my dark sense of humor showing.
As for Pro-ana, its not a lifestyle choice when your state of mind prevents that "choice" from being made within the confines of reality. I.E. what they see is not what is real, so the choice is not a choice based in reality, but illusion.
CG, my heart goes out to you and good on you for succeeding in your battle.
36Anorexia is a choice just as much as being bi-polar is a choice. It is a mental disease. Nobody is anorexic because they want to lose weight, if that were the case they wouldn't get down to 85 lbs.
37There's a comm on LiveJournal... several actually. And I mean... some of their tips (I morbidly looked through them, even though I'm not anorexic) are valid, but mostly it's just scary. I mean, after reading through it I started only weighing myself right after I got out of bed in the morning and used the bathroom- cause it really IS more accurate without that water weight... Anyway. That's not my point.
But no, they're scary groups. As someone who has dealt with several friends with ED, I'm mostly just appalled that it's so easy for girls (and boys) with REAL problems to get the information that helps them on their way to becoming more sick.
However I will say that some of those tips helped me get my friend to see that she WASN'T fat and that (once she really understood she had a problem, cause that's often the real issue) she was a healthy weight. I just wish the focus of those groups was to help people be HEATHY, not SKINNY. Cause they aren't synonymous, no matter what the media is saying.
38Find the latest news and discuss the latest topics with members of the Bulimia and Eating Disorders Community.
39----------
smithsan
Bulimia News and Discussion Forum
Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.