Pro ana websites

Reply 20

bedbug

14

I think linking them might not be the best idea.. just in case.

Reply 21

blissy

15

Indeed, please don't link them

Reply 22

zain88

1

ok, sorry.

Reply 23

aleathiel

16

I watched a thing on this months ago and it kinda stunned me to say the least..

Reply 24

Wonderboy Blue

1

I'd express my opinion but I'd get neg repped :tongue:

And that would be a terrible blow...I might cut myself.

I have a lot of sympathy for these people

/lies

Reply 25

curryADD

12

Happy_Rocker

i used to live off those sites :frown:

yeah, me too. :frown:

Reply 26

Hanzing

13

I came across a lot of these when doing my presentation on anorexia and for the most of it I was sickened. So many of these girls idolises 'thinspirations' that looked no better than the science room skeletons and there pictures representing 'fat' are grossly exaggerated people of huge proportions. God forbid being a healthy and good size! What you cant see my bones yet? These sites feed off the insecurity and anxiety of sufferers and play on many of the ways it comes around focuses there attention on media figures. They encourage the girls with tips to help them along there path, then actively condition them that's its fine with there rewards and congratulations.. Its a never ending spiral and these types of sites need to be stopped.

Reply 27

Anonymous #2

cinder

This actually reminds me of a film I watched about a dancer who thought she was too fat compared to her peers so she starved herself and did excessive exercise. Amazing film. Wish I remembered what it was called.

Hmm not sure if this is the one you mean:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002EJ7K8/104-8398643-2061501?v=glance&n=130

I saw it and it was really good. I have suffered from an eating disorder myself and a lot of it I could relate to.

I never went on pro-ana websites even when I was ill as I never wanted to be really thin I just saw myself as much bigger than I was and denied that I was losing weight. I didn't ever aspire to look like someone. Interestingly it is more when I was better that I saw thin people and wished that I looked like that.

I think that the content of pro-ana websites is really worrying and I don't think that they tell the other side at all like all the health problems that you can suffer etc that are sometimes not reversible. For example it is liklely that I will never be able to have children.

I also really don't understand the mentality behind trying to encourage others to be anorexic as well. When I was ill I was very unhappy and certainly would never have wished that on anybody else. I felt isolated and alone but I didn't want other people to be in the same boat as me and I realised it was me that was the one who was different from everyone else and needed to change to make myself better.

I wish that such sites could be made illegal. Although they had no part to play in my eating problems, I can see how they could possibly encourage others to develop eating disorders or worsen things for those who are already suffering. Nothing positive comes out of them at all.

Reply 28

StrangeKitten

Encouraging other to become anorexic or not seek help etc definitely sux but I can see why these people want to support each other. They are labelled as being "mentally ill" which gives them so much stigma and shame. It must be nice to have other people who you can relate too and support you. It's a shame that these site can't be "pro-ana" in terms of being supportive rather than encouraging negative behaviours and thoughts. Some sites I've seen started about that and just turned into something else. A lot of people reckon these sites should be banned but I think that is wrong. By pushing them underground you only take away the chance to moderate them and put on reasonable restrictions.

Reply 29

Happy_Rocker

1

StrangeKitten

Encouraging other to become anorexic or not seek help etc definitely sux but I can see why these people want to support each other. They are labelled as being "mentally ill" which gives them so much stigma and shame. It must be nice to have other people who you can relate too and support you. It's a shame that these site can't be "pro-ana" in terms of being supportive rather than encouraging negative behaviours and thoughts. Some sites I've seen started about that and just turned into something else. A lot of people reckon these sites should be banned but I think that is wrong. By pushing them underground you only take away the chance to moderate them and put on reasonable restrictions.

I dont know how to say this without it sounding like im defending these sites because im really not. But most sites have a warning before you enter them (well the many that i've seen) saying that this site is not intended to create an eating disorder or encourage one, and most of the creators of these sites say they support recovery, these sites are like support for people with EDs that have definately decided they arn't ready to go into recovery yet...still very sad :frown:

Reply 30

Anonymous #3

Posting anonymously as I can't be doing with silly knee-jerk neg-rep...

They really irritate me. Anorexia isn't a new diet or a lifestyle choice and I know that there's kind of different...types of these sites, but a lot of the users seem to be silly little girls who want to believe they've got an 'issue'.

'OMG I was trying to fast but I accidentally ate five chocolate bars and a tub of ice cream and a pizza!!1!!1 I'll go back on my fast tommorrow and thank ana every morning when I wake up and look, here's some thinspiration!!' kind of thing.

No offence (intentionally) to people who actually are anorexic, my mum nearly died from it and I've seen a couple of friends badly affected, but I think if I was I'd find a lot of these sort of sites insulting, on the whole.

Reply 31

Anonymous #2

I totally agree with the above post. I think it is almost fashionable to have a problem that some people do actually pretend that they do in order to come across in a certain way. I think it is because several celebrities have recently come out and said that they have suffered from eating disorders.

Reply 32

Beccydoodaa

8

This actually reminds me of a film I watched about a dancer who thought she was too fat compared to her peers so she starved herself and did excessive exercise. Amazing film. Wish I remembered what it was called.

Could the film have been 'Dying To Dance'?

It's an amazing film, very honest and realistic. It shows the dangers and the hardships of bulimia and anorexia, presenting the messages that it is not worth dying for and that beauty comes from within (in personality and personal activities such as dancing etc) and not from the sight of bones under the skin.

As for the websites, personally I am disgusted by them and think that the people who set them up should be ashamed of themselves for encouraging more people to make themselves sick both physically and mentally. As for using celebrities as role models...;no;. In my opinion there is just too much pressure in the world.

Hope the film title helps

Jinxy

Reply 33

bunthulhu

14

I found a big ring of pro ana girls on myspace a while ago, it was really really awful and I showed my friends; we were all disgusted :frown:

Reply 34

Sianey

I dont see that the sites could ever "make" someone anorexic (note I am NOT condoning them, they are horrific and sick, and made me so scared when I saw them, cos my best friend was really struggling with anorexia at that time), but anorexia is a mental illness, so the websites cant make someone become anorexic. However they can encourage people who are, not look to recover.

My best friends illness was to do with control issues. Her parents had just divorced because her mum had run off with a new man, the only thing she felt she could control was her food intake, which I can understand. She never thought she was fatter than she was, and realised she looked awful, but just couldnt get out of the spiral of trying to control food.

Reply 35

BlueRoses

14

We were shown a video about these sites in PSE, it was taped off channel 4 I think. All the girls, and most of the guys in the class just sat horrified watching all these really pretty, thin to begin with girls starved themselves and become obsessed with the websites. It was pretty good at the end because all the lads were saying stuff like how girls look so much better with some flesh on them and everything, because I know some girls in my class were borderline anorexic.

Of course, the bad side of the video was that we all went home googling them :redface:

. But a lot featured on the video had been shut down which was great.

Reply 36

RieLouise

1

Juno

The best little girl in the world?

Kessa wasn't a dancer - she got 'triggered' at ballet class but she was a 15 year old schoolgirl. Stephen Levenkron is the author of the novel on which the film was based. He was an ED therapist (he treated Karen Carpenter). This explains his portrayal of the therapist as some kind of infallible deity - can we say 'White Knight Syndrome'?

Pro-Ana sites have been around for years. And every time someone builds another they're convinced that what they're doing is unique and groundbreaking. Quite tragic really. The only time these people have bothered me is when they've attempted to convert members of perfectly legitimate online support groups to their way of thinking.

Reply 37

Hanzing

13

Sianey

I dont see that the sites could ever "make" someone anorexic (note I am NOT condoning them, they are horrific and sick, and made me so scared when I saw them, cos my best friend was really struggling with anorexia at that time), but anorexia is a mental illness, so the websites cant make someone become anorexic. However they can encourage people who are, not look to recover.

My best friends illness was to do with control issues. Her parents had just divorced because her mum had run off with a new man, the only thing she felt she could control was her food intake, which I can understand. She never thought she was fatter than she was, and realised she looked awful, but just couldnt get out of the spiral of trying to control food.

Actually media can have every chance of helping the development and onset of anoerxia nervoa. There are so many factors that can bring it on Biologically, socially and culturally. The media can be one powerful tool for triggering anoreixa, just as much as family problems, pesonality, sexuality... Its very doubtful that these sites make the vast majority anorexic, But if someone is on the edge, then I think that it will do a great help in tipping them over as they make becoming it realistic, with tips and help.

Reply 38

Candy-Kills

1

some girls are prettier when fat.

Reply 39

MissHero

1

Disgusted? No, not at all. This sort of site makes me sad. There's no point in talk of banning them, you can't restrict the internet, and even if you did, these people would find other ways of feeding their problem. Anorexia, bulemia, etc are mental illnesses as far as I'm aware; it's the syptoms that are physical. The media can trigger it, what with the emphasis on stick thin celebrities, and a new diet on the front of every magazine, but it's not the root cause. I think that there have got to be deeper problems of low self esteem which can be caused by all sorts of things; family problems, abuse, other traumatic experiences, etc, and these are what need to be tackled. There is no point in telling an anorexic person that they're too thin because in most cases it won't make a difference.

Another point I want to make is that there needs to be a HUGE effort to change the perception of mental illness. I know that there is some change underway, but there's still a long way to go until they achieve the same level of legitimacy as other types of illnesses with more physical manifestations.

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