I've been thinking about this lately and I think that food addiction is one of the hardest to get over. With all the other addictions (drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc) you are supposed to just quit and never take them up again..but with food, it's not like you can quit eating. Not only do you have to eat to continue living, but it's offered at every get-together, every party, nearly every meeting. You can't get away from it (In N. America I mean..obvioulsy there are parts of the world who would kill to have that 'problem' - this is not that kind of post).
I think my struggles in binge eating and food 'addiction' have sparked an interest in me in the whole eating disorder world... Well, let me clarify...I'm not interested in having an eating disorder.. More like I could see it being a focus when I start my Psychology degree. I've been researching online here and there, and there's this whole movement out there called "Pro Ana" and "Pro Mia". The definition for these terms differ depending on the site you are looking at. Eatingdisorders.com describes pro ana as "An abbreviated form of 'pro-anorexia.' A pro-ana web site is one which promotes anorexia nervosa as noble and beneficial." But if you go to most pro ana sites, the people generaly deny that they are "pro" being anorexic, it's more that they just want to educate and support people going through it, without judgment, etc. I did find a site though where young girls were asking on a message board which tool they should use to help them throw up after they eat. I also saw a post about how to erase the history on your computer so your parents wont see that you were visiting pro ana sites.
Well, I think I'll write more on this later. If you are interested in learning more about this, pro-ana-nation.com is a pretty good place to start. I feel the author of the site describes it well and is very honest about her own struggles. Very interesting..but it's all very sad. The whole thing is, really. Labels: food addiction, pro ana, pro mia |
