Here at Swarthmore, I find eating disorders ravaging the female population. I hear the same from my friends at other schools; the girls bathrooms smell like puke.
eat dis The problem is not hard to recognize: nicely plump girls return from the summer bone thin and late nights in the snack bar surrupticiously stealing sweets.
And I hear eating disorders are not confined to women.
So depressing, and infuriating! What wastage of energy and youth and resources - talented folks silent screaming. It is easy to lash out at irresponsible advertisements, irresponsive men, obsessive women -
what is most important is dialogue:
stories and support to raise awareness and comfort.
My friend Leigh had anorexia, and a bit of bulemia.Cheryl A. Wildes's sister had anorexia for 14 years. Cheryl has posted a moving tale of the dissollution of her sisters body and life. Her sister's version of the story is straight up sobering. Cheryl also provides info for family and friends.Another close friend of mine was an intense bulemic for quite some time. I had a hard time living with bulemia - approaching the problem more than the individual. I tried to write from a bulemic perspective, to gain greater compassion.
Browsing the web for eating disorder information first came up sterile, but I found good stuff on alt.support.eating-disord, and at yoni, some first hand bulemia, in the context of bitch goddesses.Catherine Sundnes has collected eating disorder links. A young woman from Norway, she has "been anorexic since the teenages."
A student at the University of Texas has posted clinical type information on symptoms and strategies, from an outside, clinical point of view.
Same deal at the University of Vermont, and UMT, where they give a brief description of the diseases, and phone numbers to call.
Physician Michael Myers has weight.com providing information on weight control/obesity and eating disorders. Again, an outsider, having studied the problem, weighs in with his evaluations.
Serotonin has been linked to eating disorders.
talking takes place on alt.support.eating-disord a good place to find first person perspective on this whole situation.
justin's links by justin hall: contact