What is my responsibility?

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Replies

  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
    Nothing is risk free. Absolutely nothing. Everyone needs to decide for themselves what level of risk they feel is appropriate in which domains. It sounds like your coworker is exploring how long they can fast for gradually, so I'd let them be, and assume that they're a responsible adult who will eat sooner than faint for instance. If knowing about it makes you feel uncomfortable, then ask them not to talk to you about it.

    Is there even any definite advice about how long is too long to fast for? I should think it's very particular to individual circumstances...
  • rckeeper22
    rckeeper22 Posts: 103 Member
    If you're really still worried about it, approach her and be blunt: "I've been thinking about what you said about fasting for a week, and it's made me worry about you because I'm afraid it may be very unhealthy. Here's my number (or a help line, a healthy resource, etc) if you feel talking and/or gathering more information."

    It lets you address your concern and offer a resource to help . . . which she is then free to either take or kick to the curb. Would this be awkward? Yep, probably. But if you're really concerned about her health, then it's worth bringing up directly.

    Another option, if you know someone who's closer to the person in question, is to bring it up to then, "Hey, I'm worried about so-and-so, but I don't know her as well. Would you mind checking in with her to see if she's ok?"

    Of course, there's certainly a difference between voicing a concern and harassing someone - I wouldn't keep bringing it up repeatedly with her once you've clearly addressed it - but if it's a genuine health concern for another person, then the worse that can happen is they tell you to shove it, you have an awkward moment, and everyone moves on with their day. Granted, you've got to be willing to accept those outcomes, and any impact it has on your work environment as a result - only you can make that evaluation as to whether or not it's worth it to bring up.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    Lots of people do multi-day fasts, it's actually not terribly uncommon. There's a whole Reddit community dedicated to fasting: www.reddit.com/r/fasting

    There are some promising studies out there on the effects of long-term (multi-day) water fasting. Mostly increased autophagy - basically your body ramps up its ability to clean out the old dead/dying cells and replenish your body with new ones.

    The longest I've water-fasted was 3 days - solely as an experiment to see if I could do it. I did it and it wasn't actually that bad. Afterwards I had a nice mental shift towards food and my cravings became much more manageable.

    So... my two cents? She's not doing anything terribly crazy, she's an adult, and if she starts feeling like *kitten*, she'll stop. You won't convince her otherwise, so don't waste your time.

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