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There are many hundreds of different eating disorders, but I will sum up two well known ones. Anorexia The Basics: This is where a person becomes obsessive in thinking they are fat, which in most cases they aren't. It's more common in girls, usually because they feel they have to look a ceratin way, or because of a hobby/job e.g. modelling or dancing. The person stops eating and can become quite secretive about it too - for example making excuses about skipping meals, pushing food around on their plate to look as if they've eaten something etc. How can you tell if someone's got anorexia?: It's impossible to say for certain if you have no experience of these things. The person may be going through a traumatic time in their life (e.g. a death) and may have not felt like eating much because of that. However, try to watch the person around meal times and see if they make excuses, or are constantly talking about how fat they look, how they should eat less etc. What can I do about it?: If it's a friend, try and help them out. Ask them about it directly or bring the subject up in a subtle way. Try not to anger or intimidate your friend...it's not going to do a lot of good. If you can't make them talk about it, tell a responsible adult or someone you trust. Don't go and tell lots of people - that's evil. Make sure you do something about it! Bulimia The Basics: This is where a person becomes obsessive in thinking they are fat - again which in most cases they aren't, but unlike anorexia, this is where people make themselves sick after meals. It's pretty similar to anorexia in many ways, but in some ways it's much more obvious. It could also be seen as 'worse' in some ways, because as well as screwing up your whole body, making yourself vomit isn't exactly good for you - many models who were bulimic have false teeth because the vomit rotted their teeth. That's pretty disgusting :( How can you tell if someone's got bulimia?: For one thing, they should be sneaking around after meals or you may hear them being sick a lot. Those are quite obvious things though. What can I do about it?: See above, about anorexia. People have also emailed me with their own experiences: Dear Jenni, I read your Eating Disorder page, and I thought I would let you know of my experience. It's time people know how dangerous eating disorders really are. Last year was a pretty normal year for me. School was going good, my friends and I were getting along well, and I was involved in a bunch of out of school activities. But there was a problem..I thought I was fat. It was so bad I'd sit and cry sometimes, so I finally told my mom about my worries. She explained that muscle weighs A LOT more than fat...but I didn't listen. It just didn't seem to make sense. I stopped eating breakfast and lunch, and for a long time I lost a lot of weight. About 30 pounds. I went from being a healthy, 13 year old girl, to being underweight. I still wasn't satisfied, though. When you have this condition, you see everyone as being stick thin and YOU being the overweight one. It was like being sucked into a whirlwind... I just couldn't eat anymore. My two best friends, Mary* and Liz*, started to notice I was dropping a lot of weight and that I wasn't eating lunch anymore. They got really worried. One night, we spoke on IM. They both asked me if anything had been bothering me lately. I regret being so stubborn, but finally I told them to just leave me alone and let me live my life (You get extremely uptight). Being such good friends, they knew something was wrong and did some research. And after a while, they knew everything. They told my parents, and I had to go into intensive care immediately. I didn't want to show it, but I was scared out of my wits. And today, two years later, I am very glad to say I'm over that time in my life. It's an awful thing to do...girls going through adolescent years should never think less of themselves because others are smaller. Everyone's different...that's how I look at it. Sincerely, Anon *names changed for privacy reasons I was going through a hard patch with my boyfriend, he just didn't seem interested any more, and this got me worrying. I think I'm a generally happy person, I'm quite confident because I do stuff like dancing and acting, but us falling out made me quite insecure. I started making myself sick because it seemed like an easy option, and I got away with it for about a month before one of my friends noticed. I told her because I trusted her, and she helped me. What finally made me stop was a chronic sore throat (from the acid I was bringing up), it caused me so much pain! My friend helped me, and she still checks everything is ok now. Did you know that if you're bulimic you could make all your teeth fall out or rip your stomach lining?? It's scary isn't it!! I am an almost average teenage girl. At the time of my life when this happened my stomah was almost always hurting so when I ate my stomah hurt even more, and I was really skinny. So my friends thought I was bulimic. They asked if anything was wrong and nothing was. I was just living my life, playing volleyball and being a school cheerleader. So before asking if I had any medical problems they started to panic and went directly to the school nurse saying that I'm bulimic without talking to me (in a sit down conversation not just a question) or my family. The nurse called me into her office and to top it off called my Mom in from an out of state confrence meeting (which really made my Mom mad afterwards) and she talked to me and my Mom about all these different eating disorders without letting me or my Mom talk. After she finished I told her that I had inherited this thing form my Mom that you eventually grew out of but your stomach constantly hurts and nothing helps. And she didn't believe me so she asked my Mom and she said the exact same thing. So after that my friends and the school nurse felt really stupid! I told my friends that they should have had a talk with me and/or my family before they went to the school nurse when they could've gone to my mom and gotten the straight facts and the truth about my medical condition. But 3 years later I eat tons of food without getting a stomachache (unless I eat too much!). So what I'm trying to say is if you think some one has a eating disorder you should talk to them and/or their family befor confronting a school nurse or anyone else to make sure you have your facts right! I used to have anorexia. The strange thing, was that I was six years old. I modelled for a few companies and I was just fine the way I was. I wasn't fat; I wasn't unhealthy. I just had a weird crave to lose weight. I started to exercise, which was good of course, but then it went out of hand. I exercised until I nearly passed out every night. I remember when I went temporarily unconscious. Also, I never ate. I'd skip meals entirely for days at a time. And THEN when I ate, I'd only ate an equivalent to a cup of corn flakes. Finally, the problem was really bad. My mother made me go to the hospital, and get checked up. The doctor said I was lucky - I was fine physically. He said, however, that my anorexia so young was a bad sign. He said that I'd probably have a lot of eating disorders when I got order, so it was best to end this NOW. I was recommended to a therapist, and I worked it out. It took at long time. I remember being forced to eat right in front of the therapist. I had to have meal schedules, and I hated it. My body wasn't used to eating balanced meals. I'd often vomit or get sick. Gradually, I recovered more and more. Now, the anorexia is but a memory. And I'm living out my last few years of childhood and adolescance to the fullest. Although now, I have a problem with snacking. Ha ha. November 27th, 2002. It was early in the morning. I was standing in the living room with my mother. We were just talking. It was a pretty normal day. My brother had just woken up, and went to the bathroom, then he came down stairs, where my mother & I were. My brother said "I have some bad news" We were thinking he was going to say something really stupid, like he always does. But, my brother sounded serious. "What?" My mother said, in a way, as 'What stupid thing is he going to say now?' "Brandon was killed yesterday.." When he said that, I fell to the floor in shock. My mother started crying, and hug my brother, while my brother was crying. I was just thinking, Brandon? He can't die.. Brandon was 19 years old, same age as my brother at that time. He was my brother, sister, & my best friend. He was like an older brother to me. He had been working construction, and him and his partner were told they didn't have to wear safety belts, they fell of a tank, and fell a few stories, then the crane split and fell on Brandon. The other guy, had a lot of broken bones, but survive. I know this may sound selfish, but, I wish it was the other way around. Brandon should have lived. Everyone loved him. I ran to my room. I layed on my bed, just crying. When it was dinner time, I didn't feel like eating. From then on, I never felt like eating, I felt as if I couldn't move. Then a few weeks later, I was bone skinny. I was skinny to start with, but I looked bad. One night went I was falling to sleep, this cold air went passed me, but I was to sleepy to open my eyes. I had a dream that night, about Brandon coming in my room and telling me I had to get help. He showed me myself in a mirror. I was very skinny, I looked horrible. I woke up right after that, I felt the cold air again. I looked towards my door, and I swear, I seen Brandon standing there. I know, most normal humans, when they see a ghost, they freak out, But I felt comfortable. I said "Brandon..." And he walked over to me and touched my shoulder, and told me he is watching over me. Then he smiled, and I felt so happy to see him again. I knew right then, I need help, I would do it for Brandon. I smelt Breakfast, I ran down stairs, and I told my dad who was cooking breakfast about what happen, and we needed to go to the doctor right away. We went, and I was told, that I had Anorexia. I got help. Now almost 2 years later, I am healthy. I know Brandon is watching over me, He visted my last November 26th, 2003. His one year anniversary of his death. Today is November 23rd, 2004. Almost 2 years, and I think, In 3 more days, he will be coming by again. And I am looking forward to it. Interested in finding out more? Check the following links: Medainc.org Anada.org NationalEatingDisorders.org Back | Forward Advertised |