bulimia

The Internet has created a new type of trigger for teens and adults who are suffering from eating disorders and depression.  Social networking sites and blogs have allowed communities to form that promote anorexia, bulimia, self-mutilation and suicide.  The spread of these groups was recently exposed by a Huffington Post article that described "thinspo" and "thinspiration" communities (short for "thin inspiration") that glorify extreme thinness by posting photos of emaciated women and where members share news about their own weight loss.  

Claire Mysko, an advisor for the National Eating Disorder Association, warns that communities that extol eating disorders and other forms of self-harm validate unhealthy and dangerous behavior. These online communities tend to consist of young females who are often socially isolated because of their condition.  When they band together through online communities they tend to normalize their condition and defend their weight loss as an exercise in self control.

Tumblr, a popular microblogging platform that gets more than 15 billion monthly page views, has been identified as one of the main homes for these disturbing communities.  In the past, Tumblr has defended members' right to free speech and has not prohibited posts that promote self-harm. Following the Huffington Post expose and ensuing negative publicity, Tumblr has established a new policy that prohibits active promotion of self-injury. While online dialogue about eating disorders will still be allowed, content that crosses the line into glorification will be removed. 

Tumblr's management has also committed to publishing public service announcements that will be displayed when users of the site search for keywords related to self-harm, including

• thinspo
• proana (short for pro-anorexia)
• bulimia
  
• purging
  

The public service announcements will direct users to organizations that can provide help, such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the National Eating Disorder Association.

The Tumblr user community's reaction to the announced policy change has been mixed.  Many welcome the change and support Tumblr's new policy, but there are also users who feel that discussions about self-harm disorders do more good than harm.  One member posted a comment saying that Tumblr is the only place where she feels surrounded by people who understand her and comfortable discussing her eating disorder.

The changes in Tumblr's policy coincide with National Eating Disorder Week (February 26 through March 3). With 120 million users each month, Tumblr is one of the leading social network sites. It remains to be seen whether other social networks and blogging sites will take a similar stand and prohibit self-harm content.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), as many as 10 million women and 1 million men in the United States are fighting for their lives as they struggle with anorexia and bulimia, while binge eating is estimated to affect 15 million people.

In recognition of the impact of eating disorders on so many lives, the last week in February has been designated as National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. This is the 25th year that the awareness week has been held.  The goal of the week is to educate both the public and health care professionals about the serious nature of eating disorders and to dispel some common myths about these diseases. To emphasize the widespread nature of eating disorders, this year's theme is "Everybody Knows Somebody."  

Not Just about Food and Not a Lifestyle Choice

One of the biggest myths about eating disorders that NEDA hopes to dispel is the belief that they are only about food and that they are lifestyle choices.  Anorexia, bulimia and binge eating are complex conditions that can involve psychological, biological and sociological issues.  A fixation on food and body weight is often rooted in the need to feel in control of one's life.  Many people with eating disorders need to feel in control because they suffered a trauma at some point in their life that made them feel out of control.  

Eating disorders can also be caused by a poor body image, a condition that is fueled by media images that connect beauty and desirability with a low body weight.  Although media messages about the importance of being thin may not cause eating disorders, the play a part in creating an environment where people become fixated on the size and shape of their bodies.  

Another common belief about eating disorders is that they are diseases of choice that can be easily overcome.  Like other mental illnesses such as depression, people who are affected by eating disorders did not choose to become ill.  Although people with eating disorders often appear to have many advantages in life, they are suffering from an illness that requires treatment.

Eating disorders are not always viewed as serious conditions, but in reality they have a higher mortality rate than any other mental illness.  Anorexia is the most deadly eating disorder, leading to death for 20 percent of people who have the disorder for more than 20 years.  People who don't die from eating disorders may experience dental problems, heart disease, gastrointestinal problems, infertility, organ failure and other severe medical complications from purging and starving. 
The misconceptions about eating disorders can prevent patients, family members and doctors from recognizing the illness and seeking treatment.  Through education and greater public awareness, NEDA hopes that more people will receive early and effective treatment for these deadly disorders.

Actress Tracey Gold will be sharing her experience with anorexia and bulimia as the host and producer of a new reality series called Starving Secrets.  The unscripted show, which premiers on Lifetime on December 2, could be the source of controversy since it will focus on a very private health issue.  The show is produced by GRB Entertainment, the makers of an A&E reality show about addiction called Intervention.  

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 8 to 10 percent of American women are affected during their lifetime by anorexia, bulimia or binge eating.  The NIMH also reports that 10 to 25 percent of these women will die from their disorder. 

As a child star, Tracey Gold developed issues with eating at age 11.  Her problem escalated while she was a member of the cast of the popular 1980s sitcom Growing Pains, where her character was often the brunt of jokes about weight (even though Tracey was not seriously overweight).  By the time she was 19 she had developed a dangerous eating disorder that caused her weight to drop from a high of 133 pounds to just 80 pounds.  She nearly lost her life before checking into a treatment center for eating disorders and learning to live in recovery in the mid-1990s.

Starving Secrets will follow a group of women aged 19 to 43 who travel to Los Angeles for intensive treatment for an eating disorder.  Gold and a camera crew will visit each woman every few weeks and chart her progress towards recovery.  As one of the first celebrities to go public with an eating disorder, Gold understands what it's like to attempt recovery in the public eye.  Gold claims that recovering from her disorder was aided by the knowledge that she had public support.  In an interview with Ramin Setooodeh of The Daily Beast, she expressed hope that the women appearing in Starving Secrets will also be helped by the support of the show's audience.

Although many reality shows are exploitive, some (like The Biggest Loser) have helped their participants while educating their audience about treatment for psychological and physical problems.  Tracey Gold will be working with a team of specialists to help the women on Starving Secrets confront and overcome their eating disorders.  If handled correctly, the show could help expose the seriousness of eating disorders and show that that there is hope for recovery through treatment.  According to Gold, future episodes may also focus on men who suffer from eating disorders.  A 2007 study found the 1 in 4 people with an eating disorder is male.
 

In October, Lovato spent three months in an inpatient rehab facility in Illinois after her parents staged an intervention and told her that she needed help. Her parents got concerned after they noticed Lovato had a nervous breakdown.

Lovato’s nervous breakdown peaked while she was on tour with the Jonas Brothers in November. Lovato punched another dancer in the face while on a flight to Peru over a misunderstanding. 

In April, Lavato quit her popular Disney show and wants to focus on her singing career. After she quit, Disney representatives said in a statement, “We respect Demi’s decision to focus full-time on her music and not immediately return to her acting career.”

In an interview with 20/20 she said her disease started when she was a little girl. At school she said she was a victim of bulling. Lovato said that she did not know why the kids where so mean to her and the only excuse they would say is because she was fat.

Lovato told People magazine that she stopped eating at 12-years-old. She lost 30 pounds and weighed 95lbs at 5ft 3in. When she was 15 she was only eating two meals a week, but her body had become adjusted and was no longer losing weight.

Then Lovato tried other forms of unhealthy weight loss. She started using laxatives and during the filming of Disney’s Camp Rock she began suffering from bulimia. Lovato said, “At my worst, I was doing it five times a day. I threw up so hard and so much it was just blood in the toilet.”

Her eating disorder was also accompanied by self-mutilation. Lovato would take blades and cut her wrists as a way, as she said, “relieving pressure when I was stressed and had anxiety.”  She said that she was 11-years old when she first cut her self. “It was a way of expressing my own shame, of myself, on my own body” Lovato said.

Lovato would hide her scares and new wounds with bracelets and makeup until one red carpet pose showed her scares for the first time. After her scares were exposed she assured her family that everything was alright, but continued cutting herself in other places. She said she was being sneaky.

Now after eating disorder rehab she said it’s the first time she has been able to feel good. She recently got a new tattoo across her wrist that reads “stay strong”. The tweet that followed her bikini body exposure read, “I've been working so hard to get healthy and fit… I want any girl/guy out there who struggles with body image or confidence to know that it IS possible to find peace with yourself.”