Things people don’t always understand about eating disorders (a thread):

• it’s not a cry for attention, it’s a mental illness. If you think you’re just doing it for attention, dw you’re not. You’re not faking it, it’s like when someone harms themselves and worries they do it for attention. It’s not for attention, it’s asking for help

• it is NOT something to romanticize. Mental illnesses aren’t cute or quirky. And eating disorders are no exception.

It’s not fun to be unable to get yourself to eat even when you’re extremely hungry

It’s not fun to make yourself throw up after eating

Etc

• Eating disorders aren’t just anorexia!! Yes, anorexia is a very difficult eating disorder and deserves the attention paid to it to help. But, other eating disorders can and are just as serious and should be paid attention to as well. Such as bulimia, binge eating, ednos

• just because someone has physically recovered and is no longer acting on their eating disorder doesn’t mean it’s all gone. It’s a MENTAL illness. The thoughts that come along with it are just as important and imo take longer to recover from

• which means that it’s easy to relapse unless ones support team understands that one still has those thoughts. Which often isn’t the case and can mean struggle with it alone.

• people who vent about their ed online are NOT promoting it. We don’t want anyone else to be going through what we go through. This is just a safe space for us, no bad intentions at all.

• saying to someone with an ed “you’re so small already” or “but you’re so light” will not stop their eating disorder. From my experience at least, it will just make myself want to make myself even lighter and smaller.

• most people with eating disorders are not fatphobic. most of us are just critical of ourselves, not others.

(Might continue this thread later)

• and no, it’s not as easy as telling someone to “eat normally.” If we could, we would. Oftentimes “eating normally” can result in someone with an ed feeling even worse about themselves, or that “eating normally” isn’t something someone with an ed can get themselves to do at all