Messages By: wovoice

Quote From: alwyscryng

I know Dr. Phil tries to help people with shows about anorexia, but all he does is trigger me to lose the weight I've gained. I feel so huge, and whatever Kathy has gained, if anything, is probably no where near what I weigh now. Just looking at the smallness of other anorexics make me feel like you-know-what. I'm still underweight, but on the borderline I think. I just don't see it- I just see extreme fat. My metabolism is completely messed up now, so it is extremely hard for me to lose weight, and super easy to gain.

Quote From: recovery99

I was so relieved to read your post. I love watching the Dr. phil show, but....I just left my second treatment center that I have been in this year. Anorexia is so glorified on TV...seeing the bones is a huge trigger for me. It seems like TV shows flash pictures of the worst cases on TV and quote weights up and down. here is my thought.....if you wouldn't ask or post the weights of "normal" people (because it is considered RUDE), why in the world would anyone post and talk about the weight of a person who is obviously more sensitive about it than the average population? I feel pulled to watch the show, but am scared to death of being triggered into relapse. I am already holding on for my life as it is....I wish that someone would do a show about anorexia and bulemia without focusing on pictures of people at their sickest.  The public already seems to think that eating disorders are about food. Dr. Phil says that you can't fix money problems with money. I say you can't fix anorexia with food. If only he could say that.... 

  

On a better note, the author of Life Without Ed will be on the show, and that is the best book I've ever read about eating disorders. It's as if the author has climbed into my head and written all of my thoughts on paper.  

Quote From: recovery99

So...I watched the show today, and it was indeed rather triggering. I believe that the phrase "the road to destruction is paved with good intentions" is appropriate here.  The root of eating disorders is not food. It is a symptom. People who don't understand or know about eating disorders focus on weight, appearance, and food. When I have been in treatment, yes, I have gained weight. My biggest (as well as the others I've been with in treatment) fear in coming out of treatment is that those around me will focus on my weight and my appearance. The more you focus on the symptom, the harder it is for a person with an eating disorder to remember that the food is not the problem. For once, I'd like to see a person who actually knows about and works with eating disorders do a show on one. I'd like to see someone talk about the REAL issues underlying the problem. That way, a person warching with an eating disorder can actually begin the road to recovery.  Those who are supporting the person with the ED can start to have a clue how to help. Believe it or not, a person with anorexia knows, at least in a head knowledge way, that their health is in jeopardy. Oh yes...and the last thing that I ever want to see is a before and after picture. Body image is the last thing to get better, so seeing before pictures of myself only triggers that focus-on-my-body mechanism to kick in. For a person with anorexia, thin is actually beautiful and a mark of pride, accomplishment, and self control. Those are just my thoughts.

Quote From: wovoice

are you suggesting that I dont understand?

Quote From: wovoice

are you suggesting that I dont understand?