Ana By Choice

December 20, 2002 7:37 AM

"Ana By Choice". Oh dear. To maintain your christmas cheer, avoid this saddening message board. By the way, for the Brits out there: more people are on anti-depressants today than voted for Pop Idol.
posted by Pretty_Generic (18 comments total)

You probably just opened a really unwise can of worms. Any time I've seen any discussion on this, involving both sides, it's turned ugly.

That said, I've known about this for a while, and it saddens me, too.
posted by angry modem at 8:08 AM on December 20, 2002

whats Mia?
posted by delmoi at 8:11 AM on December 20, 2002

As somebody who continually is talking himself out of suicide, I grok this.
posted by alumshubby at 8:16 AM on December 20, 2002

Bully's last name, I would guess.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:16 AM on December 20, 2002

before a buch of bullcrap posts happen...

I must say...

The psychology behind all this (the site is not just pro- ana... it has discussions on *overeating* aswell... seems to be a big depression buffet) is often the only thing some of these people have control over is their own body... They use these means to have some control over their lives...

Anyway, back to the frey...
posted by LoopSouth at 8:56 AM on December 20, 2002

sometimes, we don't explain ourselves well. i think that. i think anorexia is a terrible disorder, a form of self-hatred and denial of the body that nature designed for you. at first we thought anorexia was a reflection of society's expectations of you: that, by seeing disturbingly skinny women grace women's magazines, women would be compelled to want the same at the price of their own happiness.

that's a naive sort of reasoning, and i wouldn't want to pigeonhole everyone who thought poorly of anorexia as thinking that. to some extent, that is how i had viewed anorexia. but i feel better educated on the matter now: aware, rather, that anorexia is depression. whatever society deigns, depression is the driving force, and from that comes the starvation; the cutting. the hatred of body is difficult to distinguish from the hatred of self, though the hatred of body certainly derives from society.

i don't know what to make of the site, itself. some of the girls bother me. (88 lbs for a 5'5 girl is grossly underweight -- i'm sorry.) but then, i read that some of the people try to help others through and out of anorexia (or so it seemed).

(more conversation on the subject here.)
posted by moz at 9:09 AM on December 20, 2002

I know this is an important subject, but we've had this discussion in April 2000 (courtesy of Matt) and Jan. 2001 and July 2001 and Nov. 2001 and less than two months ago. Is there really more to say?
posted by languagehat at 9:19 AM on December 20, 2002

The first discussion I clicked into ("what feels best") was on the topic of what cutting implements were best for self-mutilation. Other discussions looked less pernicious, but I find it hard to believe this site's overall effect on its members is good. If one is mentally ill, will it really do one good to hang out with a bunch of other mentally ill people? I've read that AA members are told to "stick with the winners" - to make friends with other AA members who are trying to kick the addiction and are doing well - sounds like good advice to me.
posted by orange swan at 9:21 AM on December 20, 2002

delmoi: mia is shorthand for bulimia, as ana is for anorexia.
posted by swerve at 9:22 AM on December 20, 2002

I know this is an important subject, but we've had this discussion in April 2000 (courtesy of Matt) and Jan. 2001 and July 2001 and Nov. 2001 and less than two months ago. Is there really more to say?
posted by languagehat at 5:19 PM GMT on December 20

certainly not by you , perhaps it would be better if you went and policed another thread.
posted by sgt.serenity at 10:47 AM on December 20, 2002

Ring the bell and the sarge barks!
posted by languagehat at 11:00 AM on December 20, 2002

orange swan: self-mutilation is a definite improvement over many other forms of release: anorexia, alcoholism, drug addiction, etc. Its effects are purely temporary and superficial (usually) and while it's certainly not a good thing it's a better alternative than some, and not everyone is ready to be a Shiny Happy People.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 12:14 PM on December 20, 2002

Shiny Happy People

I find that the lesser-of-two-evils argument doesn't hold much water. There's always something worse out there, but it doesn't justify anything.

Even if it's not as physically damaging as some of the other things you mentioned, I'd suggest it's probably just as emotionally and mentally destructive.

certainly not by you , perhaps it would be better if you went and policed another thread.

Oh, please. He/She pointed out that it has been discussed previously on many occasions and did it in a somewhat polite manner. There's no need to get uppity unless He/She keeps up the badgering and derails the thread.

-----

And thanks for the insight, moz. Much appreciated.
posted by The God Complex at 2:46 PM on December 20, 2002

orange swan: self-mutilation is a definite improvement over many other forms of release: anorexia, alcoholism, drug addiction, etc. Its effects are purely temporary and superficial (usually) and while it's certainly not a good thing it's a better alternative than some, and not everyone is ready to be a Shiny Happy People.
posted by IshmaelGraves

self mutilation is hardly temporary or superficial. even though my scars are small, and have faded a lot, people still notice them, and it's been years since they were made. my brother and some of my friends have some rather large scars from self mutilation, and those scars are never going to go away.

and even after self mutilating behaviour is stopped, the shame of having people still notice the scars still haunts you. it's been almost 2 years since i last touched a knife, but just last week someone noticed some of my scars and started asking about them, and i felt that horrible rush of shame all over again. try as one might, they can never be totally hidden.

orange swan - I find it hard to believe this site's overall effect on its members is good. If one is mentally ill, will it really do one good to hang out with a bunch of other mentally ill people?

i was a member of a "support website" for depressed teens back in my late teen years, and even though it seemed to help everyone a little bit at the beginning, soon it just turned into pity parties of the worst kind; people bragging about how much they cut, or how depressed they were, or how much they had bled the night before. people crying out for attention so loudly that it was sickening, and it had a terrible effect on all of the members there. sure, some lasting friendships have resulted, even though the site has been down for over a year now i think, but most of us have walked away with a very bitter taste in our mouths, and a severe sense resentment for the place and it's "everyone pay attention to me because i'm more depressed than you are" attitude
posted by mabelcolby at 7:29 PM on December 20, 2002

By the way, for the Brits out there: more people are on anti-depressants today than voted for Pop Idol.


Pretty_Generic, what does this have to do with the Ana-by-Choice Website?
posted by DrDoberman at 4:11 AM on December 21, 2002

DrDoberman: I'd imagine some of the people posting to that website are depressed. Given that there's a section called Depression with the description "We all know what that is".
posted by Pretty_Generic at 6:11 AM on December 21, 2002

know this is an important subject, but we've had this discussion in April 2000 (courtesy of Matt) and Jan. 2001 and July 2001 and Nov. 2001 and less than two months ago. Is there really more to say?

Not only that, but it was the topic of an episode of "Boston Public" about a year ago. Can't get any more above-ground than that.
posted by PrinceValium at 10:26 PM on December 21, 2002

“This is the only country that could come up with a goddamn disease like anorexia... Rich c*nt don’t wanna eat? F*CK HER!” ~ George Carlin
posted by thanotopsis at 1:38 AM on December 23, 2002