7 June 2005 (Tuesday)
ana / mia
In the Science/Health section of today's New York Times, there is an article about eating disorder web sites, commonly known as pro-ana (for anorexia) and pro-mia (for bulimia) sites.
My first thought: where has the Times been all these years? I found a bunch of these sites three years ago.* Not for any relevant reason, mind you; I can't remember how I stumbled across the first one, but then my usual morbid curiosity took over and a spent a terrifying few hours clicking from site to site, shocked (probably more than I should have been) at the way teenage girls (and they are almost all girls) talk abut Ana and Mia as if they were best friends, trading tips for how to hide these "friends" from concerned family members and affirming that thin is beautiful. Thin, as in emaciated. But in control...or, at least, tryiing desperately to be in control of food consumption and weight gain, because everythig else is out of control.
So, back to the original point...why is the Times only mentioning these web sites now? Is it just because some study-in-progress recently released some results? Was the potential damage, the potential effect on ED girls and their families, non-existent before this week? I suppose there's the usual explanation of news cycles and peaks of interest and study publicity, but on the other hand I can't help but wonder whether there's other information - relevant to me and my life - that the newspapers just sit on, waiting for the appropriate moment in the news cycle while in the meantime I don't even know what it is I should be researching on my own.
OK, I don't wonder. I know it's there...I just want to know what it is.
* I know it was three years ago, because I remember distinctly sitting at my desk when it was in a particular location in my second Manhattan apartment, with my back to the kitchen, and it was only in that spot for the first few weeks after I moved in June of 2002.
((shudders)) ... eep. i've weighed the same for the past 10 years. More people than should assume I'm "ana" (I'd never heard the word until today).
ANYWAY ... yeah.. kinda makes you wonder what else we aren't hearing about. Especially since Time reported on the pro-ED sites back in '01 according to my quick google search.
But I have been hearing about ED again, especially in the circles I move in. And I guess hearing about it at random times is better than not at all? Perhaps someone will see that there is a problem?
In a semi-related tangent. I'd recently heard that ED can be linked to an obsessive shopping problem. Anyone?
And could someone please just believe me when I say I believe a 65-y-o woman can have an ED ? Her nutritionist in the hospital didn't .. she knows what to say to the right people. YES she needed to loose some weight, but her approach doesn't seem right to me. Not that i'm big on breakfast either. Give me about 2 hours until I actually wake up. :)
Another thing: I really think obesity needs to be put into ED too.. well, something similar.. i'm trying to avoid all bad puns here..
when i was in an adolescent day program at a psych hospital, the eating disorder program was on the same ward.
it included people with compulsive eating disorder or something, i think.
i looked it up. now it says "anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder." but i don't think it was called binge eating disorder then. i think it was broader
hi, im a year 12 student and im doing my last major assessments on anorexia and bulimia and if you have any useful info or just wanna share your opinion on the subject i'd apreciate it greatly. every thing you say will be taken into consideration and if you wish to remain anonymous that will be fine. my e-mail is sugarbabygirl6969@hotmail.com.
thank you...
kiani.
