When did ED become cool?

Ah, the world of Tumblr thinspo.

I don't know how much of it is a cry for help or a cry for attention.

However, for every one of those blogs, there's a better fitblr or healthy weight loss tumblr to follow.

Edit: I'm mdalerunning dot tumblr dot com

This sounds terrible but I'm 19 now and when I was 13 there was a definite mentality that being anorexic/bullemic would be a good thing, I knew a few girls who would much rather have an ED than get fat, and many perfectly skinny girls who really wanted to lose weight who didn't need to. I don't think it was an attention seeking thing- it was mostly a genuine fear of being fat or not being skinny enough.

"a genuine fear of being fat or not being skinny enough"

Thats me in a nut shell...

*edited by MFP Moderator*
If you look into things like mob mentality, conformity, identity issues and group psychology it's easy to see how these weird eating disorder worshiping cults develop, but it's sick and insulting in every way shape and form to those people who ACTUALLY have eating disorders, not those who force symptoms of them.
It's in no way cool but these girls are so desperate for a group to accept them and get a bit of a sense of belonging that they engage in the behaviours to get the approval from others in the groups which is sick and wrong but that's the way it is.
I only wish they could understand that spending your life cold, in bed, losing weight then dying of a heart attack isn't an acheivement.

everyone expresses their ED differently! You cant make generalizations like "people with real ED are private about it." Mental illness takes on many different forms. If someone is doing it for attention and still ends up hospitalized that doesnt mean they are less sick than someone who was private about it and ended up in the same place. And this is not a new trend, its just something people dont often confront unless they are looking for that kind of environment.

So I've recently joined this tumblr thing. I wanted another way to chronicle my weight gain into super awesome musclyness from my old skinny self.
Anyway, I'm new to the site, and have only been on for about a week and what's really shocked me is how many girls are on there...seemingly *enjoying...perhaps that's not the right word...advertising their eating disorders, and not in a...I have a problem, I'm working through it kind of way, but more 'YES I ONLY ATE 200 CALORIES TODAY' or 'Finally hit 39kg !!!'.

I get that for many, many people an eating disorder is extremely difficult, and having worked with young teenagers with ED's I completely sympathise, but when did it become cool to have an ED?

Also to clarify, I am not generalising and saying all ED people think it's cool, I'm not that stupid, but there seems to be hundreds, if not thousands of girls on this site...in what seems like a 'thinspo' club.

What's this about?

Unfortunately there are a lot of pro-ED blogs on Tumblr. However, there's an equal amount of healthy fitness and weight loss blogs.
Mine is: healthyandhappyvegan.tumblr.com

I don't even get why people have eating disorders.

I know I am obese and I am working on that, and I know for some reason people hate fat people a lot and it's seen as better to be skinny. But the people with ED need to realise they aren't actually being popular or in vogue or whatever by being skinny. Infact they're the minority and nearly 70% of people are overweight or obese so being underweight or incredibly skinny is just a stupid idea all together.

I don't even get why people have eating disorders.

I know I am obese and I am working on that, and I know for some reason people hate fat people a lot and it's seen as better to be skinny. But the people with ED need to realise they aren't actually being popular or in vogue or whatever by being skinny. Infact they're the minority and nearly 70% of people are overweight or obese so being underweight or incredibly skinny is just a stupid idea all together.

Eating disorders are rarely about being thin for vanity reasons. That's a huge misconception.

I don't even get why people have eating disorders.

I know I am obese and I am working on that, and I know for some reason people hate fat people a lot and it's seen as better to be skinny. But the people with ED need to realise they aren't actually being popular or in vogue or whatever by being skinny. Infact they're the minority and nearly 70% of people are overweight or obese so being underweight or incredibly skinny is just a stupid idea all together.

Eating disorders are rarely about being thin for vanity reasons. That's a huge misconception.

These tumblr girls are just that. Trying to do it for vanity reasons. Why do you think they stockpile thousands of pictures of skinny girls wearing 'cute frilly clothes' and crap.

Thinspo scares me.

I don't even get why people have eating disorders.

I know I am obese and I am working on that, and I know for some reason people hate fat people a lot and it's seen as better to be skinny. But the people with ED need to realise they aren't actually being popular or in vogue or whatever by being skinny. Infact they're the minority and nearly 70% of people are overweight or obese so being underweight or incredibly skinny is just a stupid idea all together.

Eating disorders are rarely about being thin for vanity reasons. That's a huge misconception.

These tumblr girls are just that. Trying to do it for vanity reasons. Why do you think they stockpile thousands of pictures of skinny girls wearing 'cute frilly clothes' and crap.

There is a difference between someone suffering from an eating disorder and those who crash diet, following the 'thinspo' and pro-ana culture.

It isn't recent, I just turned 40 this year and when I was 19 and 20 it was the same thing. I got quite over it when I lost more than one friend to ED and other related addictions.

Truth is, there is more stigma to being obese and fat than in having an ED and looking "celebrity acceptable thin".

It *is* popular and even, in some circles in vogue. We have to tell the truth to change the truth. That doesn't stop it from being very dangerous, inappropriate to be be "promoted", against the TOS here, and very very incredibly sad.

It's only a diet until your body starts to die with you still in it. Sadly, then it is usually too late. Most kids don't ever think they can let it get out of control though, that is the sad part. It will always be someone else. (That and many are just posers, using the ED idea as a DIET instead of actually having true disordered thinking.)

Usually an ED is not about looking hot in a pair of pants. If you see that, chances are good they are using "ED" as a diet. Which, to me is doing NO justice to true people suffering and trying to free themselves from the horror that is truly suffering from an ED.

I like to call those wannarexics, not actual anorexics. A lot of them end up failing and end up binging for a few days before they go back to normal. Some of them actually end up developing an eating disorder.

Most of them are blogging about a mental illness. Pro-Ana's/Mia's brag about their ED's... they don't actually have an eating disorder.

It's an obsession. Calorie counting, exercising like crazy, purging, restricting.... it all leads to a screwed up head. It's scary.

I have noticed this too. I completely sympathize with people suffering with ED's. But on sites like Tumblr & Instagram its the same, you have a small group of girls glorifying EDs, probably not understanding the horrifying long term effects they have.
These people are the ones I have problems with, posting ridiculous things because its 'cool'
My friend suffered with anorexia with bulimic tendencies, and even though she has been recovered for 3 years now, she is still picking up the pieces of a body which has been completely ruined from years of abuse. EDs are not 'cool or fun' they are a serious condition

Wow! I just searched Tumblr for "thinspo". I had never heard that term before today..... (I'm old and living under a rock apparently ) But, that is quite disturbing. I'm the first one to admit I'm a little dysmorphic, but that is over the top! I hope my 9 year old daughter doesn't EVER start admiring or emulating that type of behavior.