anorexic behavior is one of restriction. If they claim "vegan" or "veggie" they ha e an excuse to not eat with people because "that's not vegan" and therefore it furthers their disease. I am a recovering bulimic and never much got into the restricting behavior but a good friend IO met through therapy is "veggie" and uses it to hide her restricting behavior. I hope the people in those groups are able to get help. I have watched people die from these diseases and am struggling badly with my binge/purge behavior despite what I know about it's damage to myself. It's a horrible place to be.
I was in a rage when Skinny Bitch came out; I know a lot of people love it, but If eel like it's things like Skinny Bitch that encourage Vegan diets to lose weight that tie it to situations like pro-ana and pro-mia.
Yes, but my problem with it was it was preaching a lifestyle as a lose-weight diet. The book itself is not inherantly pro-ana or mia, in fact, it's just a book. But it's very easy to associate veganism in the modern day with weight loss now BECAUSE of books like that.
There's actually a note on the very last page (at least, there is in the edition I have)... I think it's after the index and appendices and everything even... that kind of goes "JUST KIDDING! We don't care whether or not you lose weight or are interested in losing weight, we just wanted to distribute this information on certain health issues that involve eating and thought marketing it as a diet book would get more people to look at it."
Not that it does a lot of good being way the fuck back at the end of the book, but at least it sort of redeemed that aspect of it in my eyes, since I had similar feelings about its occasionally almost ana-esque wording while I was reading it.
Now I just need to figure out how I feel about them billing their book under false pretenses to people in order to sell it, and whether the goodness of getting the information out there outweighs the badness of basically lying about something like that.
This is a huge can of worms you're opening here : )
Short story (from my point of view) is: some vegans with EDs use veganism to "cover" their problem, most do not and are in it for the animals, the environment and their own mental and physical health. I know anorexics who have rehabilitated themselves through veganism and involvement in animals rights.
The reason these pro-ana and -mia comms come up when you search for veganism is probably that they have it listed as an interest in their profiles.
As to why LiveJournal hasn't shut it down, well:
1. I don't think it's against the law and 2. If they shut it down here, people will just go elsewhere.
What can we do about it? Not a lot, really, except be as supportive as we can. We're just strangers on the internet.
It's really not up to you to save them, and there's little you can do about it. In fact, you might do more harm than good if you tried to change their views. Those kinds of opinions, to effect real change, have to come from loved ones, professionals or from within.
agreed. but lots of people do lots of self destructive things everywhere in our culture. drinking smoking eating dead animals
we live in a very sick society, where things like thinness are celebrated, no matter what the cost, these manifestations are symptoms of bigger problems.... if you look carefully in the posts on vegan people, you will see them appear, even if veiled slightly.
best thing to do is be supportive of people who are asking for help. people who aren't, will never hear you.
I agree with you, that is pretty odd. I searched fitness and the first group to come up is always proanaorexia, the posts in that group are chilling. I hate when veganism is referred to as a 'diet' ugh.
A lot of these sites give out "tips" to people, and one that I've seen a lot is for people to go vegan (for no other reason than to get out of eating).
It's easy to get bitter about it, and to be angry at the people who use veganism in this way, but I really try not to get too upset with them now. Yeah, they may be making it a bit harder for people who legitimately want to be vegan, but it's because they have a mental illness. I've struggled with disordered eating, so I'd like to think that I have a bit of an idea of where they're coming from. I mean, I've lied about my eating and dieting, and done other shit that I'm not proud of, but it's not because I'm a bad person. I'd really like to think the same is true for these people.
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I am a recovering bulimic and never much got into the restricting behavior but a good friend IO met through therapy is "veggie" and uses it to hide her restricting behavior.
I hope the people in those groups are able to get help. I have watched people die from these diseases and am struggling badly with my binge/purge behavior despite what I know about it's damage to myself. It's a horrible place to be.
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Not that it does a lot of good being way the fuck back at the end of the book, but at least it sort of redeemed that aspect of it in my eyes, since I had similar feelings about its occasionally almost ana-esque wording while I was reading it.
Now I just need to figure out how I feel about them billing their book under false pretenses to people in order to sell it, and whether the goodness of getting the information out there outweighs the badness of basically lying about something like that.
Reply
Short story (from my point of view) is: some vegans with EDs use veganism to "cover" their problem, most do not and are in it for the animals, the environment and their own mental and physical health. I know anorexics who have rehabilitated themselves through veganism and involvement in animals rights.
The reason these pro-ana and -mia comms come up when you search for veganism is probably that they have it listed as an interest in their profiles.
As to why LiveJournal hasn't shut it down, well:
1. I don't think it's against the law and
2. If they shut it down here, people will just go elsewhere.
What can we do about it? Not a lot, really, except be as supportive as we can. We're just strangers on the internet.
Reply
Reply
Reply
drinking
smoking
eating dead animals
we live in a very sick society, where things like thinness are celebrated, no matter what the cost, these manifestations are symptoms of bigger problems.... if you look carefully in the posts on vegan people, you will see them appear, even if veiled slightly.
best thing to do is be supportive of people who are asking for help. people who aren't, will never hear you.
Reply
Reply
It's easy to get bitter about it, and to be angry at the people who use veganism in this way, but I really try not to get too upset with them now. Yeah, they may be making it a bit harder for people who legitimately want to be vegan, but it's because they have a mental illness. I've struggled with disordered eating, so I'd like to think that I have a bit of an idea of where they're coming from. I mean, I've lied about my eating and dieting, and done other shit that I'm not proud of, but it's not because I'm a bad person. I'd really like to think the same is true for these people.
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