Would a nudist lifestyle cure an eating disorder?
October 27, 2008 by angelique
Filed under Women's Health
My husband and I were once friends with a card-carrying (yes, he had a card) nudist. He showed us pics from a nudist magazine, and I was shocked to discover that many people who run around naked are… well… imperfect.
Their body flaws are just out there for all to see. (As are other things – can you imagine sunburned nipples or willies? Yikes!)
Cellulite isn’t a problem.
Sagging fannies are par for the course.
And boobies? Let ‘em hang, baby!
So I’ve been wondering – are there any anorexic or bulimic nudists out there? Or is that lifestyle (which seems a little on the edge to me) actually promoting a healthy body image? After all, there’s no where to hide your stretch marks when you’re in your birthday suit.
For me, going around nude sounds incredibly terrifying… but if I did it long enough, would I become accustomed to it? Would I start to see my body as loveable and normal instead of lumpy and hideous?
Okay, so I’m not going to find out. I can barely walk around naked anymore in my own home without feeling a sense of shame and guilt. But my curiosity has definitely been piqued.
Oh no. Now that is not a nice thought at all! I’m with you on the being naked in my own company, that is bad enough, but in front of other people??
That is my worst nightmare! But being around tonnes of other people, nude, with eating disorders?
**gasp*** and some of them thinner than me (Which would be all of them, in my mind anyway, as I am always the biggest…)
Gahhhhhhh!
Interesting thought…I feel like if people grew up in nudist society, maybe eating disorders would manifest more as other anxiety/control disorders because we would be desensitized to bodies and fat but the brain mechanisms that drive eating disorders would still be messed up in people with a biological predisposition to eating disorders.
This reminds me sort of how women and men in the US are “obsessed” with breasts but in Europe its less of an issue because so many people swim/sunbathe topless. Desensitization from environment plays a big role in how we externalize our biological “demons.”