MovieChat Forums > Thin (2006) Discussion > It is a choice

It is a choice

posted 18 years ago by lac-21
42 replies | jump to latest

I am not bashing here but I need to point out when it comes down to it these women/ girls have a choice in their behaviors. I am not saying it is easy to undo their behaviors, however there is a CHOICE involved.
To deny there is a choice is to deny the possibility of ever becoming better because it is not something you choose to do but is something that just happens to you and you remain a "victim"
I remember clearly one of the girls talking about how she spent Christmas and her Birthday in the hospital and how that "sucked"
What she should really be saying is I made the choice to abuse my body and as a result I spent Christmas and my Birthday in the hospital
These women and girls need to change their victim mentality and realize they choose to eat or not eat to binge or to purge.

I am not being unsypathetic to them. It is a difficult situation to be in but a difficult situation that they made the coice to become involved in.

Now please don't start saying you do not understand, because I do I suffered with anorexia at the age of 11 and bulumia in my teens/20's etc. etc.
Most of these women do have underlying issues and I am not doubting that.
I suffered from extreme abuse as a child and teen and it did lead to an eating disorder, but I ultimatly made the choice to deal with my self hatred and insecurity by using food as my drug of CHOICE At the time I had really no other way of dealing with my emotions but I still made the choice to follow that path.
When did I get better..was when I finally realized this was not something happening to me it was something I was doing to myself and not using the abuse I suffered as justification for my seld destructive behaviors..
These women need to realize they are making these choices based on their own self hatred and realize that have the POWER and CHOICE to be better.

I hope they all find there way and Choose to get better

Peace...

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dissipating 11 years ago

the best way to put it is that developing this disorder is NOT a choice, but recovery IS a choice. Speaking from 15 years of eating disorder experience and 1 year of recovery experience.

[–] watchesbyhelen 11 years ago

Lac,
I am speechless. You hold yourself as an example but you are not the norm. This is an addiction and is not a lifestyle choice. Who would choose to feel like sh*t all the time? Having and eating disorder makes you fell like shi* almost all the time. I am old and just recently relapsed because of some cancer medicine that I went on that made me gain a bunch of weight. My relapsing was not a choice. Lac, you are confused.

http://byhelenjewelry.etsy.com
http://readingsbyhelen.etsy.com

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] charlotte20 10 years ago

Who "chooses" to live with the voice inside of you that terrorizes you and forces you into the behaviors that result in the physical disorder? As an eating disorder survivor, I am deeply offended by the ignorance of anyone who says it is a "choice". I strongly suggest you educate yourself more on the psychology of the disorder before you post something so insensitive.

[–] cookiela2001 9 years ago

these women/ girls have a choice in their behaviors. I am not saying it is easy to undo their behaviors, however there is a CHOICE involved.

To deny there is a choice is to deny the possibility of ever becoming better because it is not something you choose to do but is something that just happens to you and you remain a "victim"

Although I've had mere brushes with this behavior, and so don't understand it completely (if anyone does!), I do see where you're going with this.

To draw a comparison, Yes, alcoholism is a disease, but there's no one forcing a glass up to the drinker's lips. It might be torturous to say No to a drink, but really, that's our own hand reaching out for one. You don't want to drink? Don't pick up a glass.

I was speaking about alcoholism to a class once, and a teenager said, "Why is it that some people try and try to stop drinking and never do, while others can go to one support group meeting and never pick up a drink again?"

And I said, "Well, a lot of things in life are a bit of a mystery, but there's also an element of personal accountability. Part of being an adult is being accountable for our actions. I would say, at the end of the day, the people who got and stayed sober really WANTED to. The people who drank did not WANT to be sober."

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