Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia sites.

Lolz. As a member of the livejournal communitites. I don't see how they are bad. These people support recovery while helping those who are looking for people like themselves.

bloodiprincess:

I don't see how they are bad.

You don't?
I mean, you really don't see how they can act as a trigger?

Of course they act as a trigger; that's the point.
For some people, anorexia is neither a disease nor an addiction, but it's simply a lifestyle. These sites are no different to anorexics or bulimics as Mibba is for writers. They're a place where these people can feel normal. A place where they feel like they belong.

I love them, and I definitely think they should be allowed.

Omg.. ^^^ thank you. You put my reckless speeding thoughts into actual points. I am honestly HORRID at debating things that I feel so strongly about. Eating Disorders are lonely diseases. These sites can help to keep the people connected with actual topics besides how many ribs stick out.

boy interrupted:

These sites are no different to anorexics or bulimics as Mibba is for writers. .

Writing isn't a mental disorder.

I respect the idea of making a community where people can feel normal, and where they can talk about things to people in the same situations, I'm all for that. It's a great way of getting rid of any worries or concerns you have as a person. Mibba is an example of this, while being a creative writing community, it gives a great oppurtunity for users to meet and talk to new people and share their interests etc.

BUT, I think sites which are promoting anorexia and bulimia as lifestyles aren't right at all. They are disorders, not lifestyles, and the people who have them need to be given the appropriate help in order to combat them.

^ But making someone with anorexia feel normal can inhibit recovery. I understand what you're trying to say and I do feel it's important in normal situations for people to feel normal, but if someone who is killing themselves this way feels as though they don't need help then they won't seek it. I'm all for making people feel accepted, but in this context I think helping people overrides that.

I don't think that Mibba and pro-ana/mia sites should be compared at all. Writing is a way of expressing creativity and should be encouraged, while easting disorders need to be treated and banished.

Tom Fletcher.:

^ But making someone with anorexia feel normal can inhibit recovery. I understand what you're trying to say and I do feel it's important in normal situations for people to feel normal, but if someone who is killing themselves this way feels as though they don't need help then they won't seek it. I don't think that Mibba and pro-ana/mia sites should be compared at all. Writing is a way of expressing creativity and should be encouraged, while easting disorders need to be treated and banished.

Yeah, maybe I should've phrased it better. Normal probably wasn't the right word, but I might've made it a bit offensive otherwise :XD.

And yeah, I'm only comparing Mibba and the sites in the way that they give oppurtunities for meeting new people and being able to discuss things. The main motives of both the sties shouldn't be compared.

boy interrupted:

Of course they act as a trigger; that's the point.

Which makes them dangerous. Obviously.

boy interrupted:

but it's simply a lifestyle.

Mere lifestyles don't generally get people sectioned under the Mental Health act.

boy interrupted:

For some people, anorexia is neither a disease nor an addiction, but it's simply a lifestyle.

Can all mental disorders be lifestyles, then?

yeah. sure.. kleptomania can be..

^ But how is it a mental disorder if you choose to be that way? Is it as simple as dying your hair, going ana?

I have to admit, I've been on a few of these sites since hearing about them...
And some things I saw completely shocked me. I know that I'll never succumb to the 'lifestyle' of ana-mia after seeing them. It really was horrific - some of them looked like living skeletons.

what the chipmunk?:

^ But how is it a mental disorder if you choose to be that way? Is it as simple as dying your hair, going ana?

It's not... such a choice.
People are "at risk" for eating disorders, the same way they are for alcoholism. There are things in their lives that make them more susceptible to an eating disorder. It controls you, not the other way around.
Um... most of the time an anorexic is a person who has every part of their life controlled. They are generally pretty, get good grades, etc, etc. Anorexia, how much food they eat, seems to be the only thing they can control.
I can't remember the risk factors for bulimics.

^ I think the risk factors for bulimics are very similar. Anorexics can often become bulimic over time. Like, a lot of bulimics are ex-anorexics, I guess due to starvation and the increased number of binges... purges...

But then, so many things can cause so many things, so... It's all a bit weird in the end, but the whole pro-ana thing is a bit like... blatant denial/delusion. To say it's a choice and a lifestyle could be considered offensive, but it comes across as... for lack of a better word, what?

Everyone has a choice over their actions to an extent, but there is a point when you're not choosing in a healthy state of mind and what you think and feel is distorted and, well, that's a disorder.

Counting calories can be a lifestyle choice, sure.
But when you're freezing cold, your hair's falling out and you can't stand up without feeling like you're about to faint... but, oh no, you can't eat. Like, when you're scared of food, cannot eat it due to fear of food, obsession over food and all that? Can you really say it's a lifestyle choice....

Pro-ana is a bit like an introductory guide to anorexia ¬_¬. 'Feed' you some bullshit, give you a few ideas... and then let you go. I think that anyone who, yeah, is at risk, and gets into it, has just had the trigger pulled that never needed to exist.

Pro-ana sites can definitely warp you mind.
My sophomore year of school we had to write a research paper.
Initially, I was going to write about the danger of pro-ana/mia sites and all that jazz.
Within about a week, I had changed my subject to pro-ana/mia as a lifestyle choice. I was also pinging/burging again by the time I turned in my paper.
I was always a better bulimic than an anorexic...
Better, being a sarcastic word, of course.

Reading about them here, I visited the pro-ana/mia livejournal site and to be honest, it completely shocked me.
They're even worse than I was/am and some of them look like living skeletons. I just can't understand how people think that sagging skin and protruding bones is beautiful.

jeph.:

Reading about them here, I visited the pro-ana/mia livejournal site and to be honest, it completely shocked me.
They're even worse than I was/am and some of them look like living skeletons. I just can't understand how people think that sagging skin and protruding bones is beautiful.

I think that helps prove that it's a mental disease.
At least to people who think it's not.

^I can see that. :shifty

I know i'm probably going to cussed out of this forum for saying this, but if someone chooses live an anorxic lifestyle that's their choice and (I've been there) if you don't have support it can be sad and lonely. These sites are really meant as a suport group similar to weightloss suport groups.