On Anorexia

[eskarne]

So I was about to write about how much it annoys me when people react to anorexic women with scorn and contempt. As though it were something they did because they thought it was cool. They are greeted with sneers and derision, when clearly the appropriate reaction to a mental illness is something along the lines of sympathy, or pity, or compassion

Comments

[creativelies]

The same attitude leads towards ignorant people being hostile towards depressed people and telling them to "just get over it". Things aren't just as simple as all that (not always, anyway, there are some people out there who do just need to wake up a bit).

A lot of mental illnesses are caused by bodily malfunctions, just like physical illnesses - it's just that the malfunction is in some chemistry in the brain. You don't go telling someone with Downs or quadriplegia to "just get over it" - yet the logic doesn't apply to mental health.

[creativelies]

I understand the reaction though. When people are horrified/disturbed/challenged by something they often end up on the militant defensive. It is hard for a big woman to look at skinny celebs and not feel frustration/challenge etc. When the media yells at women day in, day out that 'skinny' is good and 'fat' is bad, everyone's psyches are messed up. Big and small girls alike. People jump to hate and/ or derision because it's easier to react than to empathize

[eskarne]

sure, but there's a big difference between skinny, which is a physical attribute, and anorexia, which is a potentially fatal illness. When people accuse the merely skinny of anorexia, as though that were an insult, it helps nobody. We've mostly gotten over using "retard" and "spastic" as an insult, but not this one
Also, the kind of pressure plebs like you and me are under to be skinny is NOTHING compared to the pressure famous women are under.

Boy Howdy! Hello Jim

[eskarne]

Yeah, I will never forgive the MacRob school counsellor - I spent weeks convincing my suicidally-inclined friend to talk to her, and when she finally agreed, I walked her to the counsellor's office, and waited, nervously. My friend walked out about two minutes later.
"What'd she say?"
"Smile and the world will be fine"

I have no idea if that friend is still alive, but I hope so.