The past few days, I have noticed that my news feed on Facebook seems to
be flooded on articles about Aaron carter claiming to have an eating
disorder. Naturally, coming from someone who suffers from anorexia, I
decided to read a few of the articles. All of them appeared to state the
same thing. He stated that his "gaunt" appearance was coming from his
struggles with Anorexia. As I read farther into the article, it stated
that "he has had a hiatel hernia since the age of 19." A hiatel hernia
is a MEDICAL condition in which part of the stomach pushes up through
the diaphragm muscle. He also stated that he is lactose intolerant. Now I
am not discrediting the pain he must be experiencing, but I do not like
the fact of how he is claiming that this is the same thing as an eating
disorder.
When someone suffers from an eating disorder, it does
not typically mean that they CAN'T eat, but that a voice inside of them
is telling them not to eat. It is a MENTAL ILLNESS with devastating
medical complications and manifestations. Sure, one with anorexia does
not eat because of pain, but it's the mental pain that is more
tormenting than the physical pain. It is like having a bully follow you
around 24/7 telling you that you can't eat because you're fat, ugly,
worthless, stupid, undeserving, and more harsh words. Except that bully
is a voice in your head that you cannot escape or out run. It haunts you
in your dreams and everywhere you go. One with an eating disorder
typically does not see how sick they are when they look in the mirror.
They can be 50 pounds underweight, but when they look in the mirror they
still see an obese person. Aaron carter claims he hates how thin he
looks. I have gotten to drastically low weights but I have never felt
thin enough, never mind too thin.
I just don't want the world to
think that a medical condition that makes it hard to eat is the same as
being diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, or EDNOS. Sure,
a medical condition could potentially trigger an eating disorder. But
one does not have an eating disorder if their thoughts and perceptions
about themselves are not severally disturbed. I feel like these articles
completely discredit and simplify eating disorders when in reality they
are extremely complex and deadly diseases.
