How do people see Ana and Mia from the outside?

[SeaFeel]

What do you think about how Bulimia and Anorexia are portrayed in media & in healthy peoples heads? Do you think they consider one of them worse/less serious/more disgusting/more dangerous?

From what i have experienced, everyone freaks out more about mia. That is, as long as you don't get dangerously skinny. Like, "okay, your fasting, just be careful about the vitamines, oh and your so stupid counting calories all the time"... Then if they get to know you're throwing up, the whole attitude changes to "OMG you're SICK, and thats sooo gross"... What I see here in the media also seems to reinforce this.

What is your experience?

[I-Hate-You-Mia]

yeah i agree when i was restricting and loosing a tonne of weight i just got pulled aside for 5mins after dance 'ok you need to just start eatin a bit more now...k?' when the same people found out i was throwing up there was a massive deal made i ad to sit down for 2 hrs and listen to all the dangers etc and people care way more even though i was 20pounds heavier.....i guess unless ur lik 50pounds anorexic bulimia carries more dangers at a higher weight? i may be wrong i duno. Also i have noticed a lot of recovered anorexics recovered and became bulimic...??? thats how i feel is the only way to recover from bulimia...not eating then i cnt throw up.

i think being anorexic is glamourised....bulimia is less talked about. i think people view bulimics as failed anorexics who cnt control themselves...i duno. x

[Alice Hunger]

My friend started talking about eating disorders with me one day, and she said something like "I almost wish I was bulimic. Just think, I'd get to eat everything I wanted and not gain."

I think anorexia is way more glamorized than bulimia because puking is generally regarded as something very disgusting. Also, very skiny girls are generally accepted because it looks good, so a skinny anorexic is "not a problem".

[HollowedShame]

Most of my friends joke about wishing they 'could be anorexic', but they all react with horror to bulimia. I guess anorexia is viewed as more 'clean' and 'graceful', since they merely restrict. Bulimics come off as some sort of sort of monster lacking control. I talked to my one friend about my purging habits recently, and she actually tried to convince me to just starve. Made me feel horrible, but she was right in my eyes, and I have been more conscious of what I eat since.

[squirt]

I agree with anorexia being glamourised. Especially by celebs that many people look upto as role models.
I've also had friends make comments about bulimia, saying how it must be good to just be able to eat whatever, puke, and then not put on weight.
Of course they don't realise its just not like that, but its frustrating all the same...

[gmacarroll]

I find people think bulimia is a lot easier to deal with, everyone i've talked to has said basically the same thing everyone else on here has said "must be nice to eat all you want and never gain any weight". I don't really think they realize that bulimia takes over your life just as much as anorexia does, and that both are equally as damaging psychologically/physically.

I've had the opposite experience as a lot of you, I find that people take anorexia way more seriously and regard bulimia as something that's really gross but nothing too horrible. I guess i feel this way because I was hospitalized a couple weeks ago for passing out/chest pains/heart palpitations from laxative abuse and purging the only thing I had eaten that day (rice), and the doctors said "as long as i'm not anorexic i'll be fine"...like bulimia wasn't anything to be concerned about, they kinda treated it like it was just a quirk in my personality instead of a pretty major health problem. Also, I can purge hands free and i've been doing it in front of my family for years now (blamed it on a stomach issue i have) and i'd carry containers around with me to throw up in after i'd eaten. That was never a problem, my family thought it was gross but in 9 years never once clued in that I could be bulimic. If I said something like "i don't want dinner tonight, i'm full" and had barely eaten all day people threw a huge fit, like if i didn't eat right then I'd die.

I think the media shows ana/mia girls as really really thin, and therefore no one really recognizes when someone has an ED if they are just thin, or average or even a little heavy. It's like the only way anyone could have an ED is if they are 50 pounds and are about ready to die. If people find out you do have an ED they also generally don't seem to care too much unless you are drastically underweight.

[shayyy333]

I think people take anorexia much more seriously, as a disease and all that. When they think of bulimics, i feel like they just kindof think were stupid and ridiculous, and mainly attention starved teens with low self esteem. I dont know, thats my take on it.

[shayyy333]

I find people think bulimia is a lot easier to deal with, everyone i've talked to has said basically the same thing everyone else on here has said "must be nice to eat all you want and never gain any weight". I don't really think they realize that bulimia takes over your life just as much as anorexia does, and that both are equally as damaging psychologically/physically.

I've had the opposite experience as a lot of you, I find that people take anorexia way more seriously and regard bulimia as something that's really gross but nothing too horrible. I guess i feel this way because I was hospitalized a couple weeks ago for passing out/chest pains/heart palpitations from laxative abuse and purging the only thing I had eaten that day (rice), and the doctors said "as long as i'm not anorexic i'll be fine"...like bulimia wasn't anything to be concerned about, they kinda treated it like it was just a quirk in my personality instead of a pretty major health problem. Also, I can purge hands free and i've been doing it in front of my family for years now (blamed it on a stomach issue i have) and i'd carry containers around with me to throw up in after i'd eaten. That was never a problem, my family thought it was gross but in 9 years never once clued in that I could be bulimic. If I said something like "i don't want dinner tonight, i'm full" and had barely eaten all day people threw a huge fit, like if i didn't eat right then I'd die.

I think the media shows ana/mia girls as really really thin, and therefore no one really recognizes when someone has an ED if they are just thin, or average or even a little heavy. It's like the only way anyone could have an ED is if they are 50 pounds and are about ready to die. If people find out you do have an ED they also generally don't seem to care too much unless you are drastically underweight.

I totaly agree with the first part. And about the second part - YES! My best friend has struggled with ed her whole life, and even though she eats next to nothing, she stays at the high-healthy to slightly overweight range. I feel so bad for here, nobody takes it seriously except me. It also sucks because she has to be fat and not eat while at least others are skinny and dont eat. I cant imagine how frustrating it is for her