I'm sorry to hear about your sister. Hopefully worriedsenior has managed to help out her friend somehow since 2001 when she first posted...

yeah, since you bumped the thread, just thought i'd post how anorexia has ruled my sisters life. Hopefully her friend is ok.

I told her to PM me if she needed to. Or if anyone else has questions, they can PM me as well.

They don't really support ED per se. What they claim is that there are different types of anorexia, etc. one that is an eating disorder, and one that isn't. What they are supporting is the non-ED anorexia.

I'm not saying it's right, but that is their rationale.

I've never heard of there being two types of anorexia...could you explain more about it? I know from personal experience that anorexia and other self-image problems are a b*tch, and it's not something you can shake really easily.

I'm not a medical doctor, but I don't think there are 2 types ove anorexia. HOWEVER, that being said, those that are Pro-ana, do believe there are.

See link for an example.

http://www.plagueangel.net/grotto/id1.html

There are two types of anorexia, but both are eating disorders.

There is the purging type, where the bulimic pattern of binging and purging is used to get the body down to anorexic weights. This is different from bulimia because you can easily be bulimic and not be underweight or pursuing extreme thinness- but when you've reached underweight proportions, you can be classified as a bulimic and as a purging anorexic.

The second type is the restrictive type, where excessive dieting and exercise are used to reduce weight.

Interestingly, the first type is associated with impulsive personalities and the second with obsessive personalities.

These are the only two classifications of anorexia I've seen... and obviously, I would consider both of these to be eating disorders. But I'm guessing this differentiation is not what the pro-ana communities are talking about...

That website really disturbs me. I can't believe someone would promote anorexia as a "lifestyle choice."

It is a very disturbing website.

I had always thought there was anorexia (starving oneself) and bulimia (binging and purging).

Then when Jamie Lynn Siegler (of Sopranos fame) came to FSU, she spoke of exercise bulimia as well.

Am I on the mark or are there additional types of ED´s?

Yes, there are additional types of eating disorders. There are the most well know, Anorexia and Bulemia. There's ED's where one exercises constantly.
There is also compulsive overeating. There are some good websites out there that explain them better than I will. I don't have time to search for them and post them as I am at work. I will once I get the chance.

-kicking myself for not remembering-

It´s odd sometimes to think about compulsive overeating as a eating disorder, cos we usually think of the opposite of that.

JL Siegler talked about how when she was exercise bulimic, she used to count calories she´d lose from chewing gum...that really disturbed me...

When you have the time, I´d like to learn more about these other types of ED´s when you have the chance to post.