Carrie, I agree that the ED story in Psychology Today is irritating, and rather 'yucky'...

An important point is that when a person is starved and fixated on ED rituals they are like a zombie and lack much capacity to love or to be loved. Lack of love is rarely the cause.

As for the 'Love Your Body' campaigns... Well, they're well-meaning, but IMO they're pointless with a capital P. I made a YouTube video on this subject a couple of months ago:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E52rNguAVs

Again, IMO, body image disturbances are a SYMPTOM of anorexia nervosa; not the CAUSE.

What do I want people to hear?

TAKE THE FOCUS OFF 'BODY IMAGE'.

Lets stop seeing EDs - and especially anorexia nervosa - as 'disorders of body image'.

EDs will not be prevented or cured by encouraging people to love their bodies.

I totally agree with some of your points, but at the risk of being shouted at by others and accused of being mis-informed, I still believe that learning to love my body was a big part of my recovery.

I totally agree that body image issues are a symptom and not a cause, and that much of EDs are rooted in biology, but I think for some people body image is more of an issue than for others.

I think it depends on how individual sufferers interpret their disorders and how the symptoms are manifested. For me body image was a big part of the narrative I used to frame the onset of and recovery from my illness.

I appreciate that others will disagree with me on this, but I do think it is important to value how different people interpret their experiences, even if there is no scientific basis to these interpretations.

Sorry I probably didn't make my point very clearly, but the point is, I tried! Hehe

Sarah x

I agree with the frustration regarding prevention of eating disorders. I believe that body image and dissatisfaction can initially have a role in fueling an eating disorder, as it did for me, but I don't believe that it has much to do with an eating disorder following the beginning. Loving your body can again come into play during recovery, but true prevention and education of eating disorders needs to have a different focus. I think that taking away the shame of the disorder can go a long way in helping those affected get treatment since shame causes the stigma that helps people stay in their disorder.

After the death of a student where I teach I am realizing more than ever that I want my life's work to be about education and prevention of eating disorders. And if we can't prevent them (thank you biology!) perhaps we can get people into treatment faster and work with insurance companies to help them STAY in treatment.

Hi Mariposai/Sarah

I don't think that anyone would 'shout at you, or accuse you of being mis-informed'...

Everybody's experiences of EDs are personal. I don't believe in a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to explain or treat all people with (e.g.) a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa. Our illness doesn't and shouldn't define us - even though it is rather inevitable that when we are sick, our ED does become part of us - i.e. part of our identity.

For some people, the ED identity relates to being thin, whereas for others (like me) it is the behaviours that are important. Thinness was a 'side effect' of my anorexia and not the goal.

The point I was expressing above applies to my narrative - which may be different to others' narratives. I just feel that the (now dominant) 'body image paradigm', although applicable to some people, doesn't describe everybody's experience...

I am always amazed at how different everyone experience with ED's are...but yet how there are always a few golden threads that run through each of our stories to tie them together.
I do agree that poor body image is GREATLY exacerbated by an ED, but I also believe that having a poor body image can lead one down a road to having an ED that she/he might not otherwise head (granted that that person have certain personality factors and other vulnerabilities.) I also strongly believe that there should be no tolerance for "normative discontent" with our bodies! I don't think any woman should hate her body and people call it part of the normal female experience, no. sorry, it's not. (breaths...)
Ok, that said, I don't think that promoting healthy body image is anywhere near enough to prevent eating disorders. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and hopeless trying to figure out if larger scale prevention is even possible. The just "Body image" and weight message also over simplifies EDs, which I don't like. The problem is that the complexity of EDs is far to difficult to communicate to the masses in an "awareness week." I'm sure there are user friendly ways of communicating simply and clearly about the roots of ED's, but the fact is very few lay people, and people who's lives have not been touched by ED's are just not going to 1)care 2) really get it and will simplify any message you give them in their heads.

I completely agree that trying to boil awareness down to media influence and body acceptance make it seem like the disease is one of purely physical motivation. I want to be skinny, so I have an eating disorder.

However, this never applied to me, and being lumped into this incorrect perception is what frustrates me to no end (this week especially). It's not always about little "love notes" to myself and the use of "normal" models in the media that will "cure" the onset of EDs.

My inner struggles are manifested through my outward appearance, as I handle my anxiety and depression through ED-related behaviors. Until people understand that it's a mental disorder with many different angles and jags--not a problem with physical perception and body confidence--there will continue to be this generalization.

I don't think eating disorder treatment and eating disorder prevention should be so intimately linked. Therapy for bad body image has a place in ED treatment for many sufferers, but it's not what causes eating disorders and it's not an issue for everyone who has one. Similarly, giving the general public body image related information might help some of them to feel better about themselves, but it won't make a blind bit of difference to those who are predisposed to developing eating disorders. I think having a 'love your body' week is an OK idea but it shouldn't be linked to NEDAW, that just perpetuates the misconceptions about eating disorders. So that was a very long way of saying I agree with you Carrie :P

A message I would want people to hear is that eating disorders are mental illnesses. A recent survey done by b-eat found that only one in five people in Wales believed that. I remember being incredibly upset a few months ago by a comment on an article about a girl who died from anorexia in my area. She was due to go to Cambridge university this year and this random man was saying that someone so vacuous as to die to be thin would never fit in at any university. I wish more than anything that people understood that eating disorders were serious, potentially fatal mental illnesses with large biological components, and have nothing to do with being vain.

Love this. I just posted something similar last week after getting irritated with the "Every body is beautiful" slogan. Eating disorders are not about vanity and poor body image!!! I don't know why this is so hard for people to get. I did get uncomfortable in my body AFTER I got sick. Before that, I never thought about it much. If anything, I thought I was too thin at my normal weight. Of course I think it's good for women to love their bodies, but by focusing on that, specifically in a week dedicated to being aware of what eating disorders REALLY are, we're missing the whole point. Not much is said about anxiety and depression that accompany eating disorders, or about that whole "metal illness" bit that nobody likes to discuss. It is pretty frustrating for me too. Glad you posted about this!

I posted this on a message board in frustration about eating disorder awareness week (uk based)


"I'm finding a contradiction in a lot of the media reports and quotes by professionals this week.

We constantly battle the stigma that eating disorders are about sufferers (I hate that word but I cant think of another) copying models and celebrities, that it is a vanity thing. Which we ALL know it isn't. It actually upsets me quite a bit to think that people consider it a vanity thing, or something we "do" to copy the famous folks.

Yet...this week there are a number of articles about how the media contributes to eating disorders. I'm not saying that it doesn't have a role to play for some, but what I am saying is that I feel it isn't such a major factor for the onset of the majority (please correct me if you think I'm wrong) of our Eating Disorders.

I really feel that its undermining the seriousness of the illness, though the articles do state that eating disorders are very dangerous, harmful, serious etc, that isn't the main message I'm getting.

Heres two articles that include quotes from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7291425/Psychiatrists-call-for-end-to-glamorising-of-eating-disorders.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8528443.stm

I also know that it is all well meaning, and it is all to raise eating disorder awareness and such, however it has really touched a nerve with me, the focus on the "size zero" debate."

I think thats what you were saying in your post to right? It is just upsetting me quite a bit. Im glad EDAW is over to be honest.

L x

I completely agree with you, Carrie. The "Starving for Love" article is misinformed, misleading, and outdated.

While I am all in favor of positive body image and media literacy, I believe that these things have no place in ED awareness or prevention. As many commenters here have already pointed out, the focus on body image and the media does a tremendous disservice to sufferers. People need to know that EDs are severe, biologically-based mental illnesses. The body image focus detracts from that truth and trivializes the illness.

If I were in charge of NEDAW, I would not include any information whatsoever about body image or the media. Instead, I would focus dissimenating ACCURATE SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION about eating disorders to the people who need it most. It is presumed that physicians, mental health professionals, and dieticians are already well-informed about EDs. Sadly, this is not always the case, and awareness/prevention efforts should start here. Evidence-based treatment should be explained and promoted. In addition, parents, teachers, and coaches should be given ACCURATE SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION about eating disorders, the causes, the symptoms, debunking the myths, and evidence-based treatment.

Given that we do not yet know the cause of EDs or how to prevent them, I think we should keep "prevention" out of NEDAW entirely. Prevention efforts must be science-based, and we simply don't have the science yet to back this up. Instead of prevention, I would focus NEDAW on awareness, ACCURATE SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION, and early intervention. While we don't know what causes EDs or how to prevent them, we do know for sure that agressive, evidence-based intervention as soon as possible following the onset of symptoms generally results in the best prognosis. I believe that we can provide the most help to the most people by spreading the word about evidence-based treatment and the importance of intervening immediately and aggressively in order to reduce chronicity and mortality.

And did I mention ACCURATE SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION?

I blogged about prevention tips a couple of months ago, and I touched on many of the points you mention, Carrie:

http://www.blog.drsarahravin.com/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-prevention-and-early-intervention-tips-for-parents/

Again, thanks for inspiring me to write about NEDAW/ My main issues with NEDAW are:

a. During NEDAW, media coverage was either limited at best or erroneous at worst.

b. The focus on body image is meaningless for many of us with eating disorders; pre-anorexia, I did not have any significant body image issues, these only cropped up after I developed anorexia and had absolutely nothing to do with my recent relapse.

c. NEDAW pretty much ignored the issue of adult-onset anorexia or other eating disorders. I developed anorexia at the age of 41, and believe that both the manifestations and recovery issues are different for different age groups. I'm not saying fighting an eating disorder is harder for one group or another; just different

It does feel weird to go for four decades without an eating disorder and then suddenly develop one and be plunged into a world of IP, feeding tubes, therapy and the like; it feels like a thief snatched away the real me and left this person who is consumed 24/7 by anorexia. The feeling is often one of unreality - where did the real Angela go? And will she ever come back?

d. Recent work with my doctor suggests that for me, anorexia is most likely trauma-based and fueled by almost relentless self-hatred and self-destructive tendencies. NEDAW ignored the issue of trauma-based eating disorders. According to one statistic, more than 50 percent of people with eating disorders have experienced some type of trauma, such as childhood physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse. I am not saying all eating disorders are caused by trauma, but that is a pretty significant statistic.

My complete thoughts on this can be found at that I posted at angelaelackey.blogspot.com/2010/02/nedaw-awareness-or-hype.html

Thanks for bringing up these very important issues!

I am so glad you wrote this article. Very well expressed.

However, I think “Love your body” campaigns can be useful, particularly with people who don’t have a full-fledged disorder yet. My own eating disordered behavior started when I was a teenager because I felt unattractive. After a couple years, I had myself trained to use these behaviors for ALL of my unpleasant feelings – not just the “vain” ones. So the disorder stuck even after I got over (relatively speaking) my body image issues.

The point is, if I had never been so dissatisfied with my body in the first place, I might not have ever used ED behaviors for the other problems in my life.

Maybe I would have found some other addiction, or just fallen into an ED later rather than sooner, but my food issues absolutely started with body-loathing.

Mine is not everyone’s situation, but I do feel that body-image campaigns can be preventative tools. Like the rest of you, I just wish they were balanced with a campaign to educate people about the deeper issues of EDs.

I believe that body image and weight are almost side -issues. Not that they do not require significant attention, but that the real focus should be on assisting the person to create a sense of self, an identity that has little to do with food or weight but more about who they are and what they want. As the author of one of the few books to explore this in depth (Cardboard: A woman left for dead) I feel very strongly about this and am always championing the importance of the person's voice and narrative in recovery.

That is a very good point jessa - it is about anxiety and depression and it is about your story.

I have nothing as detailed or insightful to offer as the above comments, but I just had to say, thank you for this post.
I feel there is far too much emphasis on body image (not that it isn't an issue...but it's not THE ONLY issue).
Personally, I never really had a problem with body image. I didn't hate it, besides the usual insecurities as a teenager. I was probably fairly indifferent to it. Even detached, maybe.

It's all very well being told to "love your body", with the assumption everything will work out fine. Objectively speaking, I think my body is ok. It is its own individual entity. If it was someone elses I wouldn't point out its flaws, just like I wouldn't point out 'flaws' in the bodies of friends, because there aren't any. I'd even go so far as to say that I have momentary instants of feeling protective of it, when, say, my belly has expanded a little and I'm observing its little rounded glory in the shower. Because I know that tomorrow I'm going to feel unable to cope with being in it, and that I'm going to be a negative influence on it.
Ultimately, I think I just have a problem being IN it.

I know I am straying off topic - but my other issue is the current clamp down on letting readers know about books that have for one reason or another been labelled as 'trigger' books - sometimes without anyone bothering to read them! Why? For a start all books can 'trigger' either a relapse or a recovery. All books can be used differently by readers depending on where they are in the process of recovery. Whether the book is a first person account, fiction or non-fiction it deserves a place in the literature.

Jessa,
Good points about anxiety and depression. I have dealt with both since a small child, and was formally diagnosed when I was 16. I always think that when I developed anorexia, I finally found the 'perfect' way to both deal with these twin illnesses (it was much better than any drug I had been given over the years) and to destroy myself after years of unrelenting self-hatred and self-destructive tendencies. Sometimes it almost feels like an addiction.

NEDAW 2011 : IT'S TIME TO TALK...PLEASE DISTRIBUTE!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 21st February 2011

ANGEL JUST-RIGHTS, Rebecca Parker (Publication date: 13 Feb 11; Biography & Autobiography, Psychology, Social Sciences, Mental Health).

Talented new author exposes exhilarating epic of endurance: beautifully candid, bravely sincere, witty, compelling, and astute. Launched in conjunction with NEDAwareness Week (20th – 26th February 2011) and adeptly reflecting this years’ theme – “It’s Time to Talk about It” – the World excitedly receives exclusive, highly original work of fiction. Based on a true story of one child’s lost voice in Angel Just-Rights lays an astonishing story of strength: “easy-to-read (far from superficial), a thought-provoking motivator, and an insightful presage for all...”

Evolution of the book – realisation into the debilitating extent at which broken down channels of communication, life experiences, and ingrained individualistic personality traits, have been allowed in full strength and power to render one so weak – are explained by Parker in her beginning Preface. Book 1 delves into issues relating to everyday living such as dealing with strict family values, loyalty and devotion while intermittently riddling with her reader in efforts to gain the yearned-for rationality and reassurance so desperately sought. At the height of deathly battles, harrowing happenings of Book 2 raise one simple question: how can implicitly pure intentions precipitate such devastating results? A plethora of mortifyingly unhealthy, demoralising and ritualistic behaviours manifesting deeply in a single fragile life so touched by the world around her are showered, shatteringly, over the reader.

Gradually learning how coping in silence can cruelly fester, devastating consequences are hastened: eating disorders (Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia), post-traumatic stresses and flash-backs, self-harm, psychosis, suicidal desires, over-exercise, increasing obsessions, extreme rituals, distorted beliefs leading to incredibly debilitating afflictions to low self-esteem, mood swings, depression, hospitalisations, sectioning under Mental Health Act and excruciatingly honest accounts of associated inequitable treatments enforced. Startling, captivating, and bitterly heart-rending to the general reader, a silent sufferer’s solace, enlightening to friends, families and health professionals alike, in equilibrium with the theme of this book, Parker’s voice adeptly portrays ironic angst exceptionally, right to the very end.

About the Author
Reading and writing have always excited Parker, previous works winning recognition and Prizes for both short stories and poetry. Sharing this unique collection of books, originally cathartic in aim, enables her to offer even a strand of hope unto any individual similarly searching for their own “only voice that is allowed” and to offer even a slice of solace to those continuing to hurt silently and alone. The disclosure of her story also aims to offer those enduring the last few years of this particular stretch of “illness” by her side, excessively long-awaited answers and an opportunity to finally embark upon healing.

Angel Just-Rights is published by Chipmunkapublishing and is now available to order online and from all good bookshops (Waterstones, Foyles, Blackwells, WHSmith, Tesco etc). For more information on Angel Just-Rights or to contact the author directly, visit wix website at RebeccaAngelParker/RebeccaAngelParker or see above.

If you are suffering alone, feeling confused or misunderstood, or concerned for a close friend or family member you care about, find this book, read it & gain strength.

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