Eating Disorders: For a research paper?

kassiebby1124
kassiebby1124 Posts: 927 Member
in Motivation and Support
I'm looking for willing people who wouldn't mind being interviewed for my research paper. Have you or a friend ever battled with body image and resorted to an eating disorder? If so could you answer the questions:

1. Age you were
2. Form of eating disorder
3. Underlying cause (if known)

Thank you very much <3 I won't use your name if you don't want me to know, but it is helpful to have.

Replies

  • Coraljayne
    Coraljayne Posts: 3 Member
    I was 9 when it started
    Anorexia, developed later into a combined anorexia-bulimia by 16
    Underlying cause was physical/mental abuse (non-parental)

    Good luck with your paper
  • cvilain13
    cvilain13 Posts: 18
    I developed bulimia at age 17. I was paranoid about gaining weight, because I had already lost about 40 lbs at that point on my own. It was a weight-gain prevention at first, but it became a paranoia and manifestation of social anxiety and self-doubt later on down the line. I stopped being bulimic for a bit and resorted to anorexia. The bulimia started back up after I passed out several times. Only in the past month have I quit bulimia for good. If you have any more questions, just message me.
  • sammirust
    sammirust Posts: 83
    1. Age you were
    2. Form of eating disorder
    3. Underlying cause (if known)

    it started up about the second semester of my freshman year. so i think 16 ish...has lasted ongoing for 4 years straight, then off and on again till now. i am 22 now. it started out as bulimia, though as the years got on, i started developing anorexia. the cause of all this was poor self image, and a undiagnosed depression.
    if there is anything else you needed to know for your paper im rather open about the topic, and would love to help you in any way. best of luck on your paper~ !
  • Lightningale
    Lightningale Posts: 4
    I always had disordered eating, but it wasn't until I was 24 and I started dieting that it developed into an ED. EDNOS leaning more towards bulimia. I believe that it was triggered by the dieting, but I've always hated my body, had low-self esteem, and perfectionism. I have always felt unloved. People only paid attention if I was pretty.
  • sjobowes
    sjobowes Posts: 13
    1. Started at age 19-20
    2. Started with anorexia and then went to bulimia for 8 years.
    3. Cause started out to be not being able to lose the weight fast enough through dieting, turning into starving myself and then a combo of bulimia and anorexia. Then it moved into bigger issues for me. I felt that my life was out of control and the only thing I felt I could control was what I was putting in my body and getting rid of. If I felt like I couldn’t control something, my ED got worse to the point I was deathly ill and needed treatment.

    If you need anything else, feel free to message me. I am very passionate about helping anyone recovery with an ED.

    Thanks.
  • nelsonhrae
    nelsonhrae Posts: 37
    1. 12-15ish
    2. Anorexia and bulimia
    3. Early puberty and wondering wtf is up with my body when surrounded by tiny girls and i am strapping italian girl. plus i generally have control issues
  • ThatSoundsHard
    ThatSoundsHard Posts: 475 Member
    I don't mind answering these questions.
    I wouldn't say it was necessarily body image that resulted in my developing an eating disorder.. It certainly became a factor over the years.
    I was about 11 or so when my battles with food began. Around 16-18 when it really kicked into high gear. I weighed around 90lbs at my lightest, which would have been around 19 years of age. I'm 5ft 6 and have a large frame.
    My battle was with anorexia
    The underlying causes would mostly include long standing depression/bi-polar disorder coupled with my anxiety. Probably as a result of an abusive childhood. It mostly started as having a form of control (just about the only thing I felt I could control is what went into me, or didn't) in a tumultuous world.

    Feel free to use my name: Nadia and age: 26. I'd also be happy to answer any additional questions you might have.
    I'm looking for willing people who wouldn't mind being interviewed for my research paper. Have you or a friend ever battled with body image and resorted to an eating disorder? If so could you answer the questions:

    1. Age you were
    2. Form of eating disorder
    3. Underlying cause (if known)

    Thank you very much <3 I won't use your name if you don't want me to know, but it is helpful to have.
  • cdswicky
    cdswicky Posts: 43
    My obsession with food began when I was about 20. I'm 40 now and still have a skewed body image. Anorexia has followed me around off and on and flares up when my life gets chaotic. I'm one of the lucky ones and I have a wonderful supportive family, who has helped keep me out of the danger zone. I've never been hospitalized for my ED, but as my therapist always says, one doesn't just get over an ED. You learn how to cope with it and if you relapse, you reach out for encouragement. I'm not a doctor, but I'd say that my issues with food began out of low self esteem, and my perfectionism and obsessiveness. I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. Depression also had a starring role in my adopting an ED.
    Believe it or not, MFP has helped my outlook on food for the good. I've only been a member for about two weeks, but so far, I'm amazed at how indepth this is and how it's making me so aware of how to fuel my body. We are machines of sort and without the exact balance of foods, we can't perform at our optimum. I'm into staying fit, so in order to workout, I need to eat healthily. This is all very positive for me. Yes, it's true, the program does lend itself to overdoing it with analyzing everything that goes into your mouth, but like I said I think it's having a positive effect on me. I hope this has helped and best of luck in writing your paper.
  • frozenjaguars
    frozenjaguars Posts: 2
    I'm currently battling anorexia. I'm 20 years old and got out of the hospital a month ago. I went in weighing 76 and now i'm 77. The program I was in was not helpful and treated me like a statistic other than a person, they even ignored my pre-existing health issues that were not contributing to my eating disorder causing me to get sick very often. As a result i'm have a greater fear of food. :( My reasons for having the disorder in the first place are: I was getting teased all through high school about my butt (even though I only weighed 100), I was sexually abused when I was young, my mom said I needed to work out, I just got a new boyfriend and wanted to look good for him (plus he said I had fat arms), and I have very low self-esteem.
  • meaghapedia
    meaghapedia Posts: 6
    Between the summer of grade 8 and grade 9 I gained 15 lbs or so (pretty sure it was just puberty finally kicking in but I thought I was a cow). Found an article about the dangers of "thinspo" sites in the paper and instead of being disgusted, thought it was the answer to my problems. Spent the next 4 years quietly dabbling but the fear of stressing my mom out more than needed kept it in check, more or less. My mom died when I was 18 and circumstances around that created the perfect storm of self-hatred and loss of control that triggered a combo of anorexia/bulimia/diabulimia (Type 1 Diabetics that don't take their insulin and put themselves into ketoacidosis to cause weight loss). My timeline is pretty foggy around this point so I'm not 100% sure of how long I spent in that state, but eventually started giving my insulin more regularly and decided I didn't want to hate myself anymore. Every doughnuts was suddenly a giant "**** you" to my prior eating habits and I spent some time in a compulsive over-eater state.

    I'm finally in a place where I want to be small but muscular (god I love the feeling of having muscles!), instead of frail and feeble. I'm getting frustrated with the slow progress but know how lucky I am that I didn't damage my kidneys or eyes with my stupidity, and being the size I am now/slowly working on cutting the fat is so much healthier than what I was doing before. It's SO SLOW THOUGH.

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