I'm genuinely interested in the opinions of those who believe that eating disorders are not real illnesses.
I don't understand the reasoning.
Someone who isn't going to completely rant without any real purpose is preferred. :]
I'm interested in comprehension of your views, no bashing on my part, I promise.
Thanks!
I'm not an expert, but eating disorders seem to form out of a fixation rather than being ill. It's no secret that many women want to be thin. And it's also no secret that vomiting your food will make you lose weight. To say that a woman who tries vomiting to lose weight has an illness doesn't make a whole lot of sense. She could be experimenting to see if she gets any results. The "illness" seems to be the continuation of the process. But I believe the continuation forms out of fixation rather than illness, and I believe the fixation forms out of the results a woman gets or thinks she is getting. It is like the act has programmed her brain into thinking she is increasing her beauty. It turns into a fixated habit. She has programmed her brain into thinking differently than before she began the act. I assume that some women are more likely to gain an eating disorder than others, but that is usually how it is for every habit. It's my opinion that if you are more predisposed [than most people] to gaining an eating disorder after you've tried vomiting your food or refrained from eating, it's really not any more of an illness as someone who becomes addicted to a drug. The drug relieves a part of the brain that makes the person feel good or even just to feel normal. Drugs are a chemical addiction, but feeding an eating disorder can also relieve that person's brain. In both scenarios the brain is being programmed to want something. Once your brain has become heavily fixated on the act, it can be difficult to stop despite the consequences.
Long live the Fighters!
dlancer, I'm curious, do you consider someone with an alcohol or drug addiction to be ill, then? Would you tell an alcoholic to just stay away from alcohol and poof, declare them to be cured? I've seen this argument made a lot (and I'm not saying you would necessarily make it or would agree with it; I'm just using your post as an example), that eating disorders are a form of addiction, but while nobody says that just telling an alcoholic to stay out of a bar will cure him, people seem to think telling someone with an eating disorder to just go have a sandwich will cure the eating disorder. I've never understood that logic as it applies to eating disorders, and I've never even found someone who's willing to try and explain it beyond that knee-jerk reaction.
Also, it's worth nothing (and I don't think this gets brought up nearly enough) that many people with eating disorders either have other accompanying mental illnesses (depression, OCD, schizophrenia) and/or have suffered from abuse, particularly sexual abuse, in the past. Why do people who have been sexually abused and turn to drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism receive so much more sympathy than people who have been sexually abused and develop eating disorders?
An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral.
dlancer, vomiting releases feel-good endorphins in the brain. Repeated (forced) vomiting would suggest that the brain could start relying on these feel-good endorphins the same way the brain reacts to some addictions. Those who suffer from EDs are suffering from a form of mental illness. In fact, EDs are some of the most difficult disorders to treat.
if you're bitter still, ask Him to help you carry on ~ Blue October
It's hard to understand "reasoning" that is actually knee-jerk emotion, sexism, moral judgement and the like. Because it isn't reasoning.
They are called disorders for a reason. EDs are treated by mental health professionals for a reason. Because they are real illnesses.
If eating disorders could be resolved by such insulting suggestions as "eat a cheeseburger!" or "put the cookie down!" no one would have an eating disorder.