How well did you do on yesterday’s quiz?
Find out now!
ANSWER KEY:
1. Answer: b.
While malnourishment, osteoporosis and liver disease could garner an anorexic an extended hospital stay, the most common reason that anorexics are hospitalized is heart damage.
2. Answer: c.
Anxiety problems often go hand-in-hand with anorexia (or other eating disorders).
3. Answer: a.
Anorexia is thought to affect less than 1 percent of the population. (There is a caveat to that, however, since many people are not properly diagnosed. Thus, the results may be slightly skewed.)
4. Answer: c.
About 90 percent of all anorexics are female.
5. Answer: b.
Anorexia has been diagnosed in girls …read more

I’m convinced that the topic of weight makes people turn into angry individuals.  It’s the weirdest thing.
For example, I was at the gym today.  Changing.  As I put on my shorts, a women in her late 40s/early 50s walked up to me.  When she was about a foot away from me, she said (very loudly), “And what are you?!?  A size zero or something?”  She wasn’t laughing, she wasn’t joking around.  She was… well… kind of mad. 
It was strange. 
Was she mad at me?  I wanted to tell her, “Hey, honey.  Chill.”  But instead I just shook my head in shock and answered, “No, …read more

One of the “themes” running through most eating disorders is a general dislike of and disdain for one’s body. Certainly, this stems from psychological issues; eating disorders are not the fault of the body. However, the body ultimately pays the price.
Therefore, I suppose it shouldn’t be too surprising that plenty of women and men with eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating turn to self-mutilation.
Don’t believe me? Just head to any pro-ana or pro-mia discussion board. (Or don’t – I wouldn’t want them to trigger any latent EDs.) The subject of “cutting” appears far more frequently than you …read more

This week, I discussed how bulimics (and some anorexics and those with EDNOS who purge) are likely introducing all sorts of bacteria, germs and goodness knows what else into their throats every time they induce vomiting using objects such as their fingers, toothbrushes or spoon handles.
Sarah, a commenter, had this to say.  It really impressed me… especially the last bit about commodes:
I was just thinking about this. I have had quite the history with bulimia and while I have mostly overcome it, last week I had gastroenteritis. While sick I made myself throw up multiple times because it made me …read more

Have you heard of “pica”?
I’m not talking pica in terms of font size, but the medical condition. It’s a strange one, indeed.
A person with pica has a craving for and may (or may not) ingest non-food materials such as clay, dirt, paper, feces (this one is mostly found in kids or those with severe psychoses), hair and many other items that most of us wouldn’t swallow on a bet.
Those suffering from pica are not diagnosed as have eating disorders, per se; after all, the pica is a symptom of something else at work.
For instance, in young children, pica could be …read more

There are numerous reasons not to make ourselves vomit. We all know that. But lately I’ve been thinking about an aspect of bulimia, ED-NOS and anorexia induced purging that I’ve never thought about before: bacteria.
Let me preface this post by telling you that I’m not a germaphobe. Far from it. I don’t get too grossed out by a messy house. If a potato chip falls on the floor, I casually brush it off and happily eat it. But the more I thought about the subject I’m about to bring up, the more it gave me a case of the good …read more

Most of you will not be surprised to hear what I’m going to say:

You can get pregnant even if you don’t have your period.

Yep, it’s what everyone learns in junior high (maybe middle school). But for anorexics (and some bulimics), it’s worth repeating.
Why am I bringing this up? Well, a friend who is seriously anorexic and hasn’t had her period in 6+ years slept with a person a couple of months ago.
Now, she’s picking out baby names.
I’m very concerned because she has only just started to put on some weight and better her situation. I keep advising her to take …read more

Educate others about the facts surrounding eating disorders. Dispel the myths that surround anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder. Find opportunities to talk with others, whether in small groups at your church or larger groups at a high school.
Work on getting healthy inside and out for yourself if you’re struggling with an eating disorder. It’s tough for people to listen to you if you’re not trying to recover from your dance with ana, mia or BED.
Learn all you can about eating disorders. If you’re going to advocate for recovery and (hopefully) prevent others from experiencing a struggle with anorexia, bulimia …read more

A few weeks ago, I asked the Breaking the Mirror community if they knew any stories of anorexics throughout history.  Lo and behold, awesome reader Jenna came through in a fabulous way!
Jenna told me about Elizabeth Siddal, a pre-Raphaelite model who lived (and died) in the early-to-mid 1800s.  As her Wikipedia page notes:
“Some have suggested that she might have been an anorexic, while others attribute her poor health to an addiction to laudanum or to a combination of ailments…”
You can read the whole Wiki page on Elizabeth Siddal here.
Thanks again to Jenna, our ED history super sleuth!

It’s true.
We were told that tomato plants just need water and sunlight and they’ll grow.
Ours refuses.
It’s watered.  It’s sunbathing.  And it’s atrophying.
Damn.  Did I transfer my eating disorder to our tomatoes?