I read something a little while ago about a 14 year-old girl who weighed 86lbs (6st 2lbs) at 5,4". She was diagnosed with anorexia, and some of the questions she was asked by doctors / family members were:

"Have you been abused?"
"Do you feel pressured at school?"
"Who's idea was it for you to stop eating? Were you forced into it?"

I feel badly for this girl, though she is better now. But it's interesting to see how many doctors and health professionals are so quick to say that anorexia is a "psychological / mental" problem and obesity is not.

All I get is:

Family = "Don't you want to be pretty / attractive? Don't you want to get married?"

Doctors = "There's nothing I can do for you, until you lose weight." (I had the flu)


I'm just saying that it wouldn't hurt to assume for once, that I didn't get up one morning and say "hey! You know what would be fun? stuffing my face!"
It wouldn't hurt to think that maybe, behind all of this weight is some kind of pain. I didn't "decide" to be obese on purpose. I hate people who hide behind ignorance!!! Urggghhh!!!!!

Yah, i hate that, too! If they're anorexic, ppl are sympathetic. But if they're overweight, ppl assume they have no control. Wrong! It's a psychological thing, too, for me. I eat when i'm depressed. I wish i can stop, and I am trying hard everyday, but until i can control my emotions, i don't think i can. But at least now, i'm maintaining my weight. As opposed to before, i was gaining soo much, i have stretch marks everywhere. It helps to talk with a friend about my problems. Instead of keeping it inside, and eating to cover it up, I just talk about the problem, and so far i've maintained... But I eventually DO want to reach my goal weight. For now, i'm just concentrating on maintaining, until i get all the emotional stuff out.

Anorexia IS a mental illness, whereas obesity is not. It is a medical condition that CAN be caused by binge eating disorder and compulsive overeating, which are eating disorders, which are classified as psychological illnesses. So, there is a difference -- albeit a technical one, but it's impactful enough to have the disease of obesity misrepresented in the eyes of the critical world. It's a sensitive issue, because we KNOW for a fact that all cases of anorexia ARE due to psychological reasons, but the same can't be said for obesity. The obese individual must be psychologically addicted to food -- and in turn compulsively overeat to be diagnosed with an eating disorder to be considered to suffering from a mental illness. And add to the mix that not ALL binge/compulsive overeaters ARE obese, it makes it even more confusing. Binge eaters have no BMI measure to classify them as binge eaters whereas anorexics do. I'm a binge/compulsive overeater -- I weigh 174 pounds, overweight, but no longer obese.

Now, is it fair that anorexics garner more sympathy than obese binge eaters? No. Is it fair that anorexics are viewed with pity and sorrow and obese binge eaters are viewed (by some) with indifference or even worse, disgust? No. It's absolutely unfair, but there's so little information out there about the eating disorders that can cause obesity, and an overwhelming amount of media coverage about young girls' struggles with anorexia or bulimia. It's very unbalanced -- there's going to be 100 stories on an anorexic 15 year old for evey one on a 44 year old obese housewife who suffers from binge eating disorder. That's the way the media is. We're obsessed with thiness and can't get enough of it -- even if it comes in a frightening, shocking package.

As for the similarities between the two eating disorders -- they are in fact, alarmingly similar, but manifested completely different. One overeats to ease pain, cope, comfort, etc, while the anorexia restricts for the same effect. The endorphins released in both the anorexics and the overeater's brains are exactly the same (endorphins are released when an anorexic starves and a binge eater gorges).

As goes the argument, well all obese people are truly food addicts -- I'm sure many people can negate that with personal experience. Should we automatically assume that every obese person in the world is suffering from a mental illness? No. Because it simply isn't true. I am a food addict, but I know more than a handful of obese people who are categorically NOT compulsive/binger eaters -- they simply CHOOSE to eat the wrong foods and not exercise. That's a choice. It's not compulsive for them to stop after work to go to Mcdonald's -- it's easy, so they do it. I'm not saying it's easy for them either to adopt a lifestyle change, but they do indeed have a choice. I have been suffering from binge/compulsive overeating for 8 years. I didn't choose to suffer from an eating disorder -- but I did choose to fight it. I decided I'm going to fight like **** to regain my life back. And two years later, I'm still fighting, and I will die fighting. I know, this is an illness, and as much as I can control it, I will never be able to overcome it without the help of professionals. This hasn't just been a diet for me -- like an anorexic, it's been a fight for my life.

Amy - just an aside to your main point. If you have a doctor that blames every ailment you have on your weight - it's time to find a new one.

It's absolutely ridiculous for a doctor to say that you cant be treated for the flu because your overweight, I'm with luja in suggesting that you find a new doctor. I'm sure there are some illnesses that loosing weight would help in the treatment (ie: diabetes, high blood pressure) but a doctor refusing to treat you because your overweight is unacceptable. As to the main point, it truly isn't fair that people other than those with a weight problem like binge eating will sympathize with someone who isn't in control of it. Coming from someone who happens to be a binge eater, it's an illness like drug or alcohol addiction, but with drugs and alcohol you can eventually stop using, but you can never stop eating.

And in some cases, it can now be seen as a form of discrimination. Nevertheless, that would not be someone I'd want treating me either.

Good point..while it would be good to be able to stop eating, food is a substance of life. That is the most difficult part of all, I think.

I think Harpo made some excellent points. Not everyone who is obese automatically has a psychological disorder, so it makes it much harder to determine if a person needs psychological counseling or just a swift kick in the rear The swift kick is much easier and cheaper to hand out, so that's the direction in which most professionals turn.

Of course, though, I agree that you need to find a new doctor. At my most recent doc's appointment, I said I wanted some help in tracking my progress and whatnot, and instead of just telling me I'm fat or thrusting a prescription for diet pills in my hand or just telling me to eat less, my doctor actually listened to me and offered a few suggestions as to my next course of action (I left with a referral to a nutritionist to try, but my doc also said that if that didn't work out, I could come back to her periodically). So good doc's do exist--you just have to find them

I get what you're saying Harpo, it just really gets to me that there's not as much support for obese people as there is for anorexics and bulimics...even nowadays where being freakishly skinny is forever being glamorized...

I dunno...

Definately gonna change doctors, and thankfully I don't have to see my family all the time now that I've moved out. It just hurts sometimes....I feel like I'm gonna be judged all the way up to my target weight and even then, you can't be sure it'll end....140lbs is actually considered 'fat' for some.

My current doctor puts on this weird baby-ish tone when she's talking to me - as if my excess pounds have somehow stunted my intelligence! The last time I saw her, she actually tutted at me, when I told her I thought I had a hernia! I asked her if there was somebody else I could see for a second opinion and she said:

"They'll just tell you the same thing."

Which is what I'm afraid of....second rate healthcare because of my weight. This is my second doctor in as many years (the guy before her - exactly the same). Going to the doc's is becoming a stress on me....

I'm sorry that you're having so many problems with healthcare professional. Why don't you ask around to friends or people you trust about their doctors and what they think about them. Most people are pretty honest about whether their doctors suck.

Your doctor sounds very unprofessional and her not seeing past your weight to what lies underneath could be a dangerous problem. Don't let your past experience with doctors prevent you from looking for a quality doctor.

I'm sure everyone can empathize with that, especially me. The only member of my family that is overweight is my mother, and she doesn't feel like its a problem or its "baby fat". I wish I had 200 pounds of baby fat that was gonna disappear tonight! But it really is difficult to see members of my family or even friends sometimes because Ive heard what they've said about other fat people."Well maybe if they didn't eat as much" or "They should do more exercising than walking to the refrigerator". If people actually knew how few times I go to the fridge anymore... In this day and age, no one is ever thin until they are extremely skeletal, then all they can talk about is how they need to "eat a sandwich" and for those of us who do "eat sandwiches" we need to stop eating as much. So we just need to be happy with ourselves and not worry about what others have to say(and I realize how hard that is to do and how easy it is to say) because people are going to have something bad to say about you regardless of who you are and what you look like.

Amy – I remember you posts from before and I am very glad for you that you have been able to move out on your own! It helps so much when you can control your own environment and not have to put up people trying to be helpful but being anything but.

I totally know what you mean about the differences in perception between overweight people and underweight people. Somehow there remains a romance around the young woman wasting away to nothing pining over a lost love, or some other saccharine romantic melodramatic pap. It is equally unhealthy as being large, and yet it retains some mystique. I guess part of it is the idea of sacrifice and self-torture that can be so glorified. I spent much of my teen years wishing I could be anorexic rather than fat. I am not proud of that, but it is the truth. However, I could never keep myself from eating for too long (thank goodness). Now that I look back I would rather be where I am now than to have gone down that road.

I wish you lived close by to me because I could recommend a great doctor! Many doctors will be like the one you have now, but not all of them. If you don’t like this one, try another one. You may have to try a bunch before you find one you are comfortable with. That can be tough in and of itself, but for me it was a worthwhile search. Now, losing my two doctors is the thing I will miss most about the area where I live when I end up moving away.

I totally understand the how you feel about the docs saying "Well, you weight is contributing to this or that..." I mean yeah to a point but not for every single thing in the Medical Dictionary. I heard that every single time I went to the dr as well. It gets really old. I hope you change Drs and find one who is realistic!

Sorry to butt in, I hope its ok that I chime up here even though its not my regular board - I'm on 3FC so much that I end up running out of posts to read!

There's also a huge difference between saying that your weight contributes to a problem (ie the flu, in that obesity puts pressure on your lungs and might make the flu worse), which many doctors feel they are medically obligated to do, and saying that BECAUSE of your weight, there is NOTHING else that can be done. Doctors don't refuse to treat smokers for the flu, do they?