obeese people and anorexics

Obesity is not a mental illness and although in some cases there may be underlying psychological factors that affect the likelihood of someone becoming obese, it is often lifestyle choices that lead someone to becoming obese and they have far more control over becoming healthy than an anorexic does.

I hate the ignorance of people when they say obesity isn't a mental illness. What controls what you eat? The mind. If it's functioning in an abnormal way (i.e. eating in a way that will eventually lead to your death and inability to move) then I cannot see how you can say that person is mentally stable.

When my parents went through divorce I ate and ate and ate and I had absolutely no idea why. I almost had no self control, it was absolutely not a normal state of mind. Google binge eating disorder.

I hate the ignorance of people when they say obesity isn't a mental illness. What controls what you eat? The mind. If it's functioning in an abnormal way (i.e. eating in a way that will eventually lead to your death and inability to move) then I cannot see how you can say that person is mentally stable.

When my parents went through divorce I ate and ate and ate and I had absolutely no idea why. I almost had no self control, it was absolutely not a normal state of mind. Google binge eating disorder.

what's worse: an anhorexic girl who thinks she's too fat, or an obese person who thinks they're thin?
the girls who say openly "ohh I'm so fat" when she's clearly much thinner than you...
oh, and those girls who're so fat that their lard goes into their boobs and they claim that this makes their boobs "big"
and those girls who are hugely tall yet still feel the need to wear huge heels
and those girls who wear way too much makeup and perfume...
and the girls who reek of BO and never think to do anything about it

(sorry I think I went a little off topic)

I could be completely wrong about this, but I think Anorexia usually kills a person more quickly than obesity. If that's true, it might be why Anorexia is treated as more of a medical emergency.

I do think there should be some sort of intervention for obese people though. Encouraging them to eat healthy and exercise isn't enough. They know their lifestyles are unhealthy, but they choose not to care. I think most of them are in denial about what a serious condition obesity really is.

I feel equally sympathetic for both sufferers as both are suffering with a mental disorder. However, I do believe there is a tendance to consider anorexics as victims rather than obese people in society. I think it comes from the fact that it's pressure from society that has led them to think that they are overweight. It's the media, comments from friends, celebrities etc. that have pushed them into this mental state.

On the contract, society doesn't applaud being overweight and thus obese people are seen less as victims but more did-it-to-themselves. I think this is completely wrong as whilst obesity may not arise from media pressure etc. it surely stems from a mental disease that needs psychological help.

You're confusing being obese with having an eating disorder.
Anorexia is an eating disorder which needs to be treated in a number of ways, both mentally and physically. Also ones health can decline much faster from malnourishment than obesity.

However people with the eating disorder "binge eating disorder" can be sectioned under the mental health act to "force" them into treatment not just for loosing weight but most importantly through therapy because it is a Mental condition.

Binge eating disorder is not the same as just being overweight though, one can be overweight without suffering from binge eating disorder.

yeah that would make sense

would you say the majority then genuinely don't care or that they feel helpless and depressed which prevents them from caring

You're wrong about a lot of points.

Treatment for anorexia nervosa is hard to come by. Mental health services are severely over stretched. The vast majority of people with an eating disorder are treated in the community, often just seeing their GP and very few see a specialist. Very few will get access to a dietitian, so will not be given a meal plan. Much like overweight people being told to "just eat less", people with AN are often just told to eat more. A lot of community dietetics services will not even see people with anorexia - there isn't the funding and instead they see people with diabetes, obesity etc because the Nhs is a business and obesity costs them a lot more each year than anorexia does so they don't see it as a priority.

Many people wait years for therapy, and in that interim period they either get steadily worse, die, or get better.

It is fairly rare for someone with anorexia nervosa to be sectioned and force fed against their will, despite what we may hear in the media. It's not that easy, and most patients are treated informally (not under a section). The emphasis in treatment centres is on normal eating, not tube feeding.

Obesity alone isn't a psychiatric illness, though as others have said binge eating disorder is. Everyone who is put forwards for bariatric surgery has to undergo a psychiatric assessment, and many do have BED/emotional over eating and will receive counselling for this.

You can't really compare the two in the way that you are. And actually a LOT more money each year is spent by and invested in the NHS in to obesity (and related illnesses) than eating disorders or mental health.


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I don't know tbh. In my own experience, those who suffered from the anorexia only starved themselves to get skinner for shallow aesthetic reasons. S.

If someone is diagnosed with anorexic

However if someone is obese they can just carry on eating, getting fat and then finally when they are very large and carrying a life threatening amount of weight an operation may be offered to them (if they meet thee criteria).