Secret Society Embraces and Encourages Anorexia as a Lifestyle Choice, Not a Disease
Watching a loved one suffer with an eating disorder can be a heartbreaking experience. Feelings of helplessness are common.
But imagine how you would feel if there was someone actually
encouraging your loved one in their eating disorder? How would you feel if a support group, that was dedicated to embracing eating disorders as a choice and not a potentially fatal illness, was sabotaging any efforts towards recovery?
As hard as it is to imagine, there actually is a new type of “social support group” that encourages anorectics to continue with their harmful and life-threatening habits. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have reported on an emerging Online Negative Enabling Support Group (ONESG) that surrounds the pro-anorexia movement.
Members in the society view anorexia as a “choice” and do not acknowledge it as a serious illness. The pro-anorexia movement is founded on four distinct themes and employs different communication techniques to support anorectics in their harmful behavior. The themes are as follows:
Staying loyal to the anorexia lifestyle. There are blog sites and forums where members can go to discuss their eating, exercising, and binging. If members feel they have eaten too much or haven’t exercised as they think they should to stay true to the movement, they can confess their guilt in a type of “online confessional.”
Encouraging self-loathing techniques. Most healthy...
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