Why can anorexic individuals not see the difference?!

dakotababy

So I in no way am judging anorexics, but I am simply asking this as I am trying to find more information/maybe some personal experiences who could explain this to me.

Why is it that anorexic males/females can not see the difference between a healthy body weight (whether is be strong, ripped, toned - whatever) and the unhealthy body weight (bones, rib cage, lack of muscle). Like...I guess do anorexics find the unhealthy look "sexy" or "in" or "desirable"?

I don't know, I just think that if a picture of a body that is toned/muscular/thin were shown (Lets just use jillian Michaels, because i love her) VS. a body image of lets say an anorexic body...would an anorexic prefer to look like the healthy-thin person or the unhealthy-thin person...any thoughts?

alisonlynn1976

No personal experience with eating disorders, but from what I understand, a lot of it has to do with a distorted self-image. They'll say that the healthy-thin person and the unhealthy-thin person both look great, but they themselves are fat and hideous even if they are actually thinner than the people who they say look great.

diodelcibo

It is a mental thing, one will look in a mirror and see a fat person staring back ; they do not think they are "skinny" as you put it.

glovepuppet

i wasn't a proper anorexic (i didn't see a fat blob and i wasn't trying to lose weight) but i never looked in the mirror and saw the skin & bones i see in some pictures of me. i think part of it is that change is gradual, and what you see in the mirror changes so slowly that your mind adjusts to that standard of 'normal'.

TheRealParisLove

It's like dyslexia but for body image. They literally see a fat person staring back at them in the mirror.

http://www.eatingdisorderpro.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/webinar-anorexia-distorted-body-image.jpg

dakotababy

I understand that - but if they were to be "inspired" to become thin (even though they already are) would they not be more likely to over-train/eat really clean(obsessively) to get a more tone look rather than the...current popular look of anorexics...which I can only describe as dilapidated

chantelp89

They definitely don't think of themselves as being sexy or attractive in any way

kimosabe1

It is a mental thing, one will look in a mirror and see a fat person staring back ; they do not think they are "skinny" as you put it.

this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

glovepuppet

I understand that - but if they were to be "inspired" to become thin (even though they already are) would they not be more likely to over-train/eat really clean(obsessively) to get a more tone look rather than the...current popular look of anorexics...which I can only describe as dilapidated

i don't think it starts that way.

they'll start by wanting to look like [insert latest pop-culture hottie] but, having attained that weight, they don't magically feel confident and beautiful. they were feeling a feel good buzz from losing, so they naturally go back to that in the hope that the next goal will magically make them feel confident and beautiful. eventually the goal gets lost to the habit, every bad feeling they have about themselves [falling grades, failing relationships, childhood trauma] is filed under ''would be ok if only i looked beautiful''.

Lumen1505

Its not just what is 'seen' in the mirror but also what is 'felt' when viewing themselves or perceiving themselves. There is no one answer as it may be different for each person.

I know for me when I under ate (many years ago) it was wanting to make myself smaller or disappear, not vanity. For others it may be a wish to remain in a child like state and for others it may be to conform to what the media portrays as desirable.

Eating disorders are utterly complex & individual to each person, while there may be 'themes' there is usually more going on beneath the surface, which is why they can cause such devastating damage to sufferers and their families.

eringrace10

From friends that are recovering. (Yay) I 've always always understood it has having a lot to with control, they might feel they have control over any part of there life apart from what they eat so its can become an eating disorder.

confetti_blind

A lot of people with AN know they are too thin. It is a fallacy that body dysmorphia goes hand-in-hand with AN. They are two different mental disorders.

There are hundreds of different reasons why a person with AN restricts their calorie intake and only a handful of those reasons relate to weight or body image.

Some people with AN are motivated by a need to control something when other elements of their life feel out of control, for example. Other people with AN are self-punishing (a type of self harm) because they do not feel worthy of reward. Food might represent 'mother' to some people and rejecting food is a way to reject 'mother'. I could give 100s of other reasons.

It is really simplistic to generalise and assume that EDs are related to a desire to be thin. They are a mental illness and not a diet plan or a lifestyle.

PS: True sufferers of AN do not need 'tips' and do not recite pro-ana babble quotes and do not have pictures of superskinny celebs as their thinspiration. Those people are the 'wannabes' and the 'wannabes' generally have absolutely no idea what it is like to genuinely suffer from an ED. I still find it incredible that people would ever aspire to develop a mental illness - it is like aspiring to be schizophrenic or hoping to become bi-polar.

vicky7917

I think it's called Body Dismoprhia Disorder. They genuinely don't see what you see.

luceegj

It's becuase deep down it isnt really about body imagin its a need for control!

RunEatLift

They definitely don't think of themselves as being sexy or attractive in any way

Exactly. I've been recovering from anorexia since last summer. I looked horrible at my lowest weight and I was well aware of it. However at the same time I loved it - it brought me a sense of comfort and security. Counting calories, pounds, minutes spent exercising all stopped me from thinking about what my actual problems were.

Kristineevans1

I don't suffer from AN but I do suffer with EDNOS with anorexic tendency I am trying to recover ( and doing pretty well) and also body dismorphia disorder. If you look at my picture it will give you a good indication of what I see and how I look.

Ed's are formed with districting cycles ie you feel bad, feel fat , body check ie squeeze pinch feel all the disgusting fat over your body ( even when what your feeling is skin, muscle etc) you can "feel the fat " therefore you must be fat , so you eat less, when you do eat you feel bad then you feel fat .....and the cycle continues

It is definitely a control thing and a coping mechanism, it is like having your brain rewired and even though you know what you should be doing or not doing your mind takes over your body and it's very hard to fight it.

K x

LaLouve_RK

Distorted Self Image projection of your brain. It's basic psychology.
Stress and depression can make you do crazy stuff...

patentguru

Very tough to self judge accurately. When I look in the mirror, I see no flaws or fat. Only when I put pictures of me at 20% fat vs. now at a far lower percentage can I see the difference.

Schraudt814

It's the nature of the disease...it's more psychological than just not eating.

andiechick

From friends that are recovering. (Yay) I 've always always understood it has having a lot to with control, they might feel they have control over any part of there life apart from what they eat so its can become an eating disorder.

^^^^This

Anorexia is a Mental health issue and its not just a case of being as thin as possible - altho some may start this way - there's often an underlying cause, either to do with control in their life like said above or maybe even due to trauma. Each case is individual and should be treated as such

yksdoris

It is a mental thing, one will look in a mirror and see a fat person staring back ; they do not think they are "skinny" as you put it.

this. it also happens to "regular people" and particularly people who have recently lost a lot of weight - they often still feel fat even though they aren't. To illustrate, I went to this scince center/amusement place which is mainly aimed at kids and teenagers (they had a get-in-for-free-day. so sue me) and they had this whole section about various body images, including scarification, piercings, tattoos... and weight. There was a mirror that would move your image from super-skinny to super fat, and the idea was to hit "stop" when you thought it reached the point wher you actually were. I invariably hit stop at a heavier point than I actually was. Even though at that point in my journey I was already at goal weight and I was very happy with the way I looked, I still didn't see it properly.

Personally, that was when I realized how important it is to lose weight slowly: not only is it better for the body, it also gives the mind some time to catch up!