SIGN THE OFFICIAL PETITION TODAY
This profile aims to battle and protest against online publications, websites, groups and myspace profiles that support and encourage eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia.
I have started this profile to make a point - we can do something to tell others that we do not tolerate this phenomenon! We do not want myspace to give young people advice on becoming 'perfect', starving themselves, aiming to be anorexic/bulimic or learning that food equals evil!
Eating disorders have become an epidemic in the Western society today, and we may not be able to cure all those who have become ill as a result, but we sure can prevent myspace and the online community from supporting this behaviour and getting in the way of possible treatment!
Your opinion counts - you may be saving a young person from illness, depression or death.
QUICK FACTS:
- 'Pro-Ana' (Anorexia) and 'Pro-Mia' (Bulimia) support groups (in support OF the disorder, not recovery) are accessible to anyone via the internet
- Doctors and psychiatrists, treating patients with eating disorders agree that these websites slow down, and sometimes stop recovery
- Pro ED (Eating Disorder) websites often encourage their memebers to self harm
- Pro ED websites offer tips on starvation, 'purging' (self induced vommiting), dieting (using chemical substances or without) and showcase photos of thin/ill people as 'thinspiration'
- Pro ED websites encourage young people with eating disorders to hide their problem from the people around them, even providing them with tips on how to do so
- Pro ED websites are a platform for people with eating disorders to express their pride in their condition, and spread the myth that eating disorders are NOT an illness, but a chosen lifestyle.
- Pro ED information and ED 'support' is available on MySpace.com
Anorexia Goes High Tech (By JESSICA REAVES)
[Quoted from time.com, for full article visit This Link ]
A wave of pro-anorexia web sites has flooded the Internet, providing dangerous support and how-to tips to a new generation of anorexics. TIME.com's Jessica Reaves investigates
Developing an eating disorder is no easy task. Becoming an anorexic, for example, requires months, even years, of obsessive, destructive tunnel vision. Anorexia demands absolute, single-minded dedication. It's exhausting — and it can be extraordinarily lonely.
That’s where technology comes in. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, anorexics and would-be anorexics around the globe can access more than 400 web sites designed solely for them. Need to know how to disguise your weight loss so concerned (read: jealous) friends will stop hounding you to eat? Looking for a few words of support as you launch into your latest deprivation diet? Or perhaps you’d like to know the tricks for satisfying that pesky weekly weigh-in at the doctor’s office? It’s all right here.
Pro-Anorexia Web Sites: The Thin Web Line (By GINA SHAW)
[Quoted from WebMD.com, for full article visit This Link ]
"Thinspiration." "Ana." "Mia." "I love you to the bones."
This is the vocabulary of a burgeoning subculture of web sites known as "pro-ana," meaning pro-anorexia. Created primarily by young women who have anorexia or bulimia, or are in recovery from one or both of the disorders, these sites have been making headlines and horrifying parents and doctors for several years.
The sites speak of anorexia and bulimia as if they were almost human, hence the names Ana and Mia. The illnesses are treated almost like beloved but demanding and relentless old friends. They feature photos of rail-thin actresses and models as "thinspiration," and offer tips on suppressing hunger pangs and hiding the evidence of missed periods or vomiting spells. But what's most important, say the sites' creators and visitors, is the support they find from people who understand what they're going through.
"It's a place where we can find like-minded people," says 19-year-old Lizzy, a young woman from the San Francisco area who's created one of the better-known "pro-ana" sites. "Most people don't understand what it's like: They see anorexia as a disease to be cured, but they don't realize that it's also a mental demon that you have to deal with every day. At sites like mine, people can talk about what they're feeling without being judged."
There's no doubt that sites like Lizzy's are shocking and troubling. "Imagine if there were web sites encouraging people not to get treatment for cancer, or celebrating how great it is to have diabetes," observes Doug Bunnell, PhD. "They promote a myth that eating disorders are choices, rather than a physical and mental illness."
But are they doing real harm, or are they just provoking a lot of controversy? Bunnell thinks they're doing serious harm. "In my group of patients, these things are really damaging. Patients are supported in their illnesses and encouraged to stay ill by these web sites," he says. "Anorexia and other eating disorders are notoriously difficult to treat, and one primary reason is because the patient's wish to get better is an ambivalent wish. Things drawing someone toward that illness can be quite damaging."
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