For every mental health concern or mental disorder there is, you’d be surprised to learn there are people who are okay living with it. So much so, that some groups have come out in support of their disorder, helping reinforce their own and others’ behaviors.
In a free society, we can’t stop such groups. But as they become more prevalent, they also become more well-known. And then some people get outraged that such groups could be “allowed” to exist, and all heck breaks loose.
Newsweek has the story this week on one set of these groups, pro-anorexia (“pro-ana”) sites that help people with anorexia learn better ways to basically starve themselves. While these groups have existed online for over a decade (and probably longer), they’re now becoming more mainstream (if such a term is appropriate in this context). The have even occasionally popped up on Facebook (even though they are against Facebook’s Terms of Service, and get quickly quashed when discovered).
Pro-anorexia, or “pro-ana,” Web sites (with more than one using the “Ana Boot Camp” name) have for years been a controversial Internet fixture, with users sharing extreme diet tips and posting pictures of emaciated girls under headlines such as “thinspiration.” But what was unusual about the site mentioned above (which is no longer available) was where it was hosted: the ubiquitous social networking site Facebook.com. The (largely female) users who frequent pro-ana sites have typically done so anonymously, posting under pseudonyms and using pictures of fashion models to represent themselves. Now, as the groups increasingly launch pages on Facebook, linking users’ real-life profiles to their eating disorders, the heated conversation around anorexia has become more public. Many pro-ana Facebookers say the groups provide an invaluable support system to help them cope with their disease, but psychologists worry that the growth of such groups could encourage eating disorders in others.
These groups are a little disturbing, especially as you read through the postings. But no more so than the dozens of self-harm sites online, or the sites devoted to helping people be more successful in suicide. Or a dozen other topics that if you learned you could join a group that was “pro” that, you’d be saying to yourself, “Really? Wow.”
That is, after all, the nature of the Internet. It allows for people with very diverse wants and needs to find one another and hook up with one another far more easily than has ever been possible previously in human culture. The fact that some of these wants and needs are outside of the mainstream norm is not at all surprising.
So what does all of this do for people? Isn’t allowing people to discuss their pro-ana needs just plain harmful and potentially dangerous? Not necessarily:
Marcia Herrin, a Dartmouth professor who has written several books on eating disorders, finds the public nature of the discussions of anorexia on Facebook encouraging, because it shows that teens are less afraid of confronting eating disorders.
The more “out in the open” these kinds of concerns become, the more society learns and can answer the kinds of information (or mis-information) they promote. If more teens feel comfortable talking about eating disorders, then perhaps more will also feel comfortable asking for help when they notice themselves or a close friend who might be going down that road. And while in an ideal world, we’d prefer a teen or child not have to go down that road to learn for themselves, sometimes experience is the only teacher that can make a difference.
Read the full article: Out of the Shadows
13 comments
nina funnell provides an alternate, more comprehensive take on the situation.
one of the few in the media who has taken the time to understand the idea that “pro-ana” does not mean that the entirety of its community members are necessarily trying to promote ana. most of us are simply coping and craving nonjudgmental support.
i have been ana since early childhood. although i’ve been through therapy, 12-step programs, and other treatments, my greatest progress has been through the relationships i’ve developed within the “pro-ana” community.
through the anonymity of the community, i have been able to intimately discuss the details of my “dis-ease,” and to work through the emotions behind much of it. in findin a new voice for my feelings and a new outlet for my creativity through my discussions within the community, i’ve gained tremendous strength and confidence. for that i am grateful. i see a light at the end of the tunnel.
indeed, through the support i have found within the community, i have grown emotionally. my anger and self-hatred has abated somewhat, and i have even been willing to attend to 12-step meetings.
at the same time, in supporting each other without judgment, we have worked to prevent (or at least provide support to prevent) episodes of cutting, purging, and seemingly inconsolable depression. and, more recently, tried to support fellow anas involved in horribly abusive relationships (often involving men who verbally abuse their girlfriend’s into horrifying anorexic and bulimic episodes).
unfortunately, newsweek did not bother to look at both sides of this equation. i worry that this article will destroy a burgeoning community of individuals seeking help from each other amidst a society that simultaneously celebrates the aesthetic results of anorectic behavior, while scowling at the painful methods required to achieve perfection. because of stories such as hers (and the people she interviewed) we live in fear of “deletion,” which, in many cases would cut the only lifeline many of us possess, particularly those residing in remote areas or in abusive households/relationships.
ultimately, ana is about control. for all too many anas, our lives have been marked by physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. for those of us afflicted by the dis-ease of anorexia, our caloric intake is one of the few areas in which we have ever experienced any measure of control. as i gain greater control in other areas of my life, i feel less desperate, less driven to hurt myself, less compelled to truly starve.
thank you for the willingness to think critically about our plight.
Count me among the confused to understand how an eating disorder or anorexia support group wouldn’t also offer “nonjudgmental support”?
It may be, and correct me if I’m wrong, that some traditional eating disorder support groups don’t allow people to talk about their actual behaviors, or get upset when others do, and so discourage a free, nonjudgmental and open discourse necessary for a support group really to be effective and help others. Perhaps this is the void that pro-ana groups are filling.
But I think the concern cited is that pro-ana groups that actually promote the disordered behavior may be leading some astray in reinforcing the eating disorder (rather than helping them cope with finding ways to end it).
I think it’s possible to have a support group be nonjudgmental and not have to fall into the “pro-ana” category to be helpful to those who are grappling with this difficult issue. Perhaps there are just not too many successful examples of such groups…
Another example of how psychiatry/psychology is unlike other disciplines–one doesn’t hear of pro-leukemia or pro-kidney failure groups.
A very good point, Novalis.
I think that support groups are great. They help people to deal with issues by letting them know that they are not all alone. However, like some of the above posts have already stated, Pro-Anna sounds like it is promoting the sickness and not the cure. If the focus of the group is support people strugging, perhaps they should be referred to as something else.
Also, by giving it a nickname like Ana, the disorder may become more acceptable to some people.
I WANT TO BE SICK OF ANOREXIA BECAUSE I´M SO FAT NOT VERY BUT MY STOMAGE IS VERY FAT BEFORE I WAS WITH 52 KILOS BUT NOW I`M WITH 57,5 KLS. I AM VERY WORRIED ATTE. MONICA
Support or discussion groups revolving around a specific behavior or disease can be a double-edged sword, like anything else. This fact is encapsulated best in the linked stories individual who found that, while venting on pro-ana groups relieved some stress in the short term, in the long term it did not give her the tools she needed to change her behavior. The same can be seen in numerous AA/NA meetings that devolve into nothing but vindictiveness and negativity, or “interventions” (such as those popularized on television) that lay the blame at the feet, solely, of the addict.
Clearly there is a need to give autonomy back to individuals, especially individuals who feel controlled by an impulse they can’t quite grasp. But simply commiserating over shared misery isn’t enough. Support groups must be monitored, and guided, by individuals with enough grounding to keep discussions and feelings on the right track.
Believe me, they don’t know what they are doing in their urge to be thin, I’ve been suffering from norexia (with intervals) since the age of 14. Now I’m fifty, my teeth fell out without a particular reason, and last week I fell and my arm broke (severely) like a matchstick (osteoporosis?. The long term effects are disastrous, but they even refuse to consider that… forbid those poisonous websites, they are lethal