Ask ED: The Real Scoop
Yesterday, I asked readers to send me questions they would ask of someone with an eating disorder.
The first question I received is:
- Do anorexics secretly (or not so secretly) really think less of bulimics? Or binge eaters?
I think it’s a fair inquiry and I encourage you to reply in the comments section.
Honestly, when I was actively restricting, I didn’t even think of bulimia or binge eating. It wasn’t “my thing” and I was too self-absorbed to worry about what someone else was doing. But I’ve heard that there is indeed some “class warfare” among different ED sufferers. (Want to read some scathing comments about yours truly? Check out this post. Wow! What a can of worms that opened!)
Tags: Anorexia, anorexic, binge eater, binge eating, Bulimia, bulimic, eating-disorders, EDsRelated Stories
POSTED IN: ask ED
2 opinions for Ask ED: The Real Scoop
E
Dec 2, 2008 at 7:21 pm
That’s an interesting question…
I wasn’t anorexic, but ED-NOS with only anorexic tendencies, and to be honest I didn’t feel superior to people with bulimia, but I did feel safer. Like I wasn’t hurting myself as much as I could have been, so that made it “okay.” The damage I was causing to my brain and body wasn’t as tangible as the decaying teeth and damaged esophagus. I understood the motives behind purging, and I felt the same emotions that bulimics must feel after I ate “too much,” but I felt like the calories were my punishment, and I couldn’t “cheat” by throwing up. Also, if I ate those calories, I knew exactly what was in my body; if I purged, I wouldn’t know exactly how many calories had already been absorbed and the not knowing would be just as worrisome to me.
I think some of the whole anorexics-thinking-less-of-bulimics thing stems from self-hatred and fear. For people with anorexia, eating anything provokes an out of control feeling, and knowing that people with bulimia are able to give in to the desire to eat but still achieve some calorie restriction is scary, because its a path that anorexics know they could choose someday. The fear of that potential out-of-control feeling can translate into rejection of people with bulimia. I think the superiority towards others is merely the manifestation of the superiority anorexics feel when they are restricting versus when they are eating–kind of a two selves split thing.
Don’t know if that makes much sense and I don’t speak for everyone, my own experiences are limited (luckily.) and I can only speak for myself. I am glad that I never developed bulimic habits because I’m afraid recovery would’ve been more difficult if I had adjusted to a normal caloric intake + binging pattern. It has been easier to dissociate from my disordered eating patterns because I wasn’t really eating much at the time and normal eating doesn’t trigger a desire to purge for me (as I assume it would for bulimics).
Jenny Smith
Dec 2, 2008 at 11:58 pm
This 65-year-old man is anorexic. From what he was saying, he was bulimic first. Some bulimics are driven to anorexia when their gastrointestinal system gets too screwed up.
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