I’m sure a lot of people feel like
this, but more and more I’m feeling guilty about looking for attention relating
to my eating disorder. Although I’m 120 pounds, (which is a low weight for some
heights) I am by no means skinny. My weight is in the normal range, and when I read
about people thinking they’re fat and seeing how flat their stomachs really
are, how thin their arms really are, how small their thighs really are… I just
feel like a sham. I am not anorexic. I wish I could be at a low enough weight
to be considered anorexic, or that I looked skinny enough to be considered
anorexic, but I’m not. When people blog about trying to not binge, I have to
remind myself that some mean 600 calories instead of 200. I’m not saying it’s
not serious to binge on 600 calories, but boy I wish I could stick to that.
Instead I ingest around 1500 calories per binge, most likely more.
My point is that I feel like I have
been leading people to believe I’m something that I’m not. Unintentionally, of
course.
In addition, my disorder has gone
on for a mere 2 years. And my binges and purges have been few and far between
compared to others that I’ve read about. How was I the one who ended up in
treatment? And how could I even think of wishing for more? I want inpatient
treatment so badly, just to help me stop binging. There are people out there
whose lives are in danger because of their eating disorder, and I want to take
away one of their spots.
I keep
telling myself I deserve treatment as much as they do, but even if that’s the
case, treatment is a limited resource. There are limited number of spots in
inpatient and outpatient therapy. There are limited numbers of therapists.
Shouldn’t the people who are more in danger get first dibs?
What’s
worse is that instead of motivating me to get better, this only makes me want
to get sicker. Then I’ll deserve all this attention I’m getting.
Well, I
made a promise to myself that I wasn’t going to purge ever again. This is only
the 200th time I’ve tried to stick to it. If I was going to give up,
I would have done it 100 times ago. I guess my brain wants me to be
self-centered. And I hate myself for it. But it’s working.
ED's differ.. I am overweight - very very overweight - but was offered treatment. I don't think size matters, the Ed's root is in our mind..
ReplyDeleteyou know what they say, the mind war gets worst before it gets better :) hang in there. And don't hate your self hon.. Sometimes its very good to be self centered..
Take care of you
Thanks :)
DeleteI hope it does get better eventually...
I don't think anyone deserves treatment more or less than another person. And it definitely shouldn't be based on weight. I always read that bulimics aren't usually underweight (true in my case anyways), but it doesn't make it any less dangerous or a risk to our health than being anorexic does. I think no matter what ED it is, we all deserve help and to overcome all this, minor or extreme. So stay strong. I'm just happy for you that you're getting any type of treatment after two years, because I've had bulimia since grade ten (in my third year university now) and it definitely gets harder to overcome every year. Every day even. And don't feel self-centered. Reading your blog makes me want to get better, and makes me actually try to. So either way your atleast helping one person through all of this. Plus sometimes, putting yourself first is the only way to get through things.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that bulimia is just as dangerous as anorexia. I still don't know if I believe that, because I've also heard that a lot of bulimics die by suicide, which is awful but is that caused by the bulimia or by an underlying depression? Who knows... I guess you are right though that everyone deserves treatment.
DeleteAnd yay, I'm glad I'm helping someone!! I hope we both can overcome this monster and live normal lives again. (Ha, if they ever were normal, right?)