Don’t Buy The Lie – Managed Anorexia

Those of us who have struggled with an eating disorder had no idea what we were in for when we started. When we started, we didn’t anticipate the consequences. Lost friends and broken relationships because our own selfishness and self-absorption left little room for anyone else.

We didn’t anticipate the physicial trauma – fromt cutting to ruined teeth

We didn’t anticipate the emotional pain. That no matter what number the scale said, it wasn’t low enough. Even the magic numbers we were striving for seemed to have lost their power once we arrived. We didn’t look the way we thought we would.

And instead of being in control, we were out of control. Out of control of the way we felt about ourselves, about the way we damaged ourselves, out of control period.

So when Kenneth Tong, UK Big Brother 10 contestant, launches a Twitter campaign to promote what he calls “managed anorexiam” I want to bang my head on the desk.

Tong’s tweets included the message: “Managed anorexia is not life-threatening, it gives living another chance after you messed it up eating too much,” and other similar messages.

Managed anorexia? There’s no such thing. Our perception is that we manage our eating disorders, until bit by bit, we realize that the ED takes over and manages us.

Managed anorexia? There’s no such thing.