Seeking 'thinspiration'

[almaty 19]

Pro-anorexia websites offering tips on extreme dieting are nothing new, but their growth on social networking sites is a disturbing new twist and brings them within reach of a wider audience.

As a conversation opener, it's as blatant as it is troubling.

"What diet pills work best?" a young female user of a social networking site asks. The responses begin to trickle through from other members of the group which is an online meeting place for those people with anorexia.

"They're all rubbish," says one, before another chips in with her favourite brand, which she says works well with "restricting" and "exercising". It could lose you seven pounds, she surmises.

Another user asks for good tips "for when the hunger kicks in", a request met with a slew of suggestions.

One of the Facebook groups

The popularity of social networking websites has opened up a whole new world of interaction, but with it, darker trends are emerging. Groups which appear to extol grave eating disorders as a glamorous lifestyle choice are appearing on sites which claim tens of millions of active users.

Members of such groups post pictures of painfully skinny girls for "thinspiration", compare dangerously low goal weights and measurements, and team up to "keep each other strong" in their quest to lose weight.

They swap stories on how they vomit until they cough blood, are often too weak to get out of bed and how they're scared family or friends will find out and force them into recovery.

Moderated content

Such groups are known as "pro-ana" and "pro-mia" - that's pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia.

Their existence on the net is nothing new. But their presence on social networking websites, which have rules against posting harmful content, raises the groups to a new respectability.

Previously, people on such internet groups remained relatively anonymous, and the groups, being small, were sometimes hard to find. But on some social networking sites, users have real names and faces, and are more accessible than before.

Such groups can be found on many social networking sites, including the biggest:

One of the MySpace groups

• MySpace includes groups such as Pro Ana Nation (with more than 1,000 members) which states, under its rules, "no people trying to recover, it ruins our motivation"; and Pro Extreme Dieting, which states: "we are here to support each other in our choices, even if they are to recover, or try to put on, or lose weight"

• Facebook includes groups such as "Get thin or die trying", "Yes, I have an eating disorder. No, it's not your problem" and "Quod me nutrit me destruit" which translates as "what nourishes me destroys me"

While the groups are dominated by American users, they include many from the UK.

Joining one "pro-ana" group can lead you to five more, and so on, opening up a world that, while posing as a means of support, more often tends to glamorise and advocate illnesses that can cause infertility, heart disease and death.

Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. Beat, the UK's Eating Disorder Association estimates that up to 20% of those who become seriously affected can die prematurely, and are at particularly high risk of suicide.

Wasting away

Andrea Schneider, a 21-year-old from Columbia, Missouri, has struggled with anorexia since she was 16. In the past 18 months she says she has been admitted to hospital 15 times and had six feeding tubes.

'Thinner is the winner', that's a quote that we live by

Andrea Schneider

She used to log on to these groups to seek justification for what she was doing.

"When you are actively in your eating disorder, you desperately want someone to understand, and a lot of time you find groups like the pro groups on Facebook that are supportive of you continuing your eating disorder," she says.

"When you are in the middle of it and don't want to give it up, you cling to these sites that tell you what you are doing is OK. Recovery is hard, staying sick isn't, so it's easier to hide behind these sites claiming that you are making a lifestyle choice, rather than admitting that you are sick and trying to get better."

As posted on Facebook

Many girls in these groups, aged from about 15 to 30, claim their goal weight is below seven stone (45kg), and for some it is as low as five stone (32kg).

"We always want to be the thinnest," Andrea says. "'Thinner is the winner', that's a quote that we live by."

"You will see girls talk on these sites about hitting their goal weight, but no matter what they say, their goal weight is never going to be low enough."

Emma, a 17-year-old from New York who still uses these groups, also believes they fuel anorexia.

"Hearing girls your weight or smaller say they are fat makes you feel worthless. Ana tips can push you to take it too far and thinspirational pictures give you an unattainable goal."

Never alone

Dr John Morgan, a consultant psychiatrist St George's University Hospital, London, who specialises in eating disorders, says these groups run the risk of glamorising unhealthy behaviour.

I have had some patients who have gone on pro ana websites and then gone on to seek treatment

Dr John Morgan

"It's become a lot more interactive, which is more worrying. It much more rapidly reinforces the negative views these people have of themselves and provides an instant response to what they're looking for."

But the impact of these groups is not entirely negative - and if properly regulated, they can be used for positive means. He says they can mirror group therapy, an important part of treatment, and help draw people out of their isolation.

"I have had some patients who have gone on pro-ana websites and then gone on to seek treatment," he says. "It's very daunting, and just having someone to hold your hand and explain the process can make a big difference."

Susan Ringwood, Beat's chief executive, says an eating disorder is a serious mental illness, not a fad, phase or lifestyle choice.

"The sooner someone gets the help they need, the more likely they are to make a full recovery - yet some aspects of the pro-ana world deliberately try to encourage people to avoid treatment.

"But it is a complex issue, because what people who use these social networks often say is that they find an acceptance and sense of belonging that they don't get anywhere else. At Beat, we want to change the way we all think and talk about eating disorders, and that means showing we can provide that acceptance and understanding, so that a pro ana group isn't the only refuge there is."

Fellow feeling

Anastasia, a 19-year-old student in London, suffers from anorexia and bulimia and uses social networking groups for support.

I joined groups to get ana tips and to have a place to share my feelings, rather than judged

Emma

"People around me support me, but I can't tell them everything. In these groups I can ask questions and talk about how I feel to people I know went through the same issues and feelings."

For Emma, social networking sites are her only option for support.

"I would be found out if pro-ana sites showed up on the history of my computer. These groups really connect girls from all over and create true friendships. I myself originally set up my fake account and joined groups to get ana tips and to have a place to share my feelings and be understood, rather than judged."

A spokesman for MySpace says it can be "very tricky" to distinguish between support groups for users who are suffering from eating disorders, and groups that might be termed as pro anorexia or bulimia.

"Rather than censor these groups, we are working to create partnerships with organisations that provide resources and advice to people suffering from such problems, and we will target those groups with messages of support."

Facebook failed to respond to our questions

[MissStacey 1]

I've seen some of these sights after hearing about them on the news. They are shocking and gross.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I've seen them too - they have things like calorie counts for cucumbers and aspirin. #######? repulsive and compelling in equal measure.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I go to those sites and post "those shoes make you look fat" under picture they post.

[rclouse 0]

I go to those sites and post "those shoes make you look fat" under picture they post.

LOL

[almaty 19]

it is a terrible situation and to be reinforced by others..makes the person much worse and treatment less effective

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

I go to those sites and post "those shoes make you look fat" under picture they post.

Sh!t thats funny as he!!.

[Geist 0]

I like to go to those sites and read them while eating a big bowl of ice cream or potato chips. Somehow it makes me feel so much better! I think, hey I might not be skinny, but at least I can eat this without purging or running 10 miles afterwards!

[MissStacey 1]

They make me feel good about myself too. I'll never be a size 2 but I look healthy. I'd rather have some meat on my bones than be a walking skeleton.

[almaty 19]

They make me feel good about myself too. I'll never be a size 2 but I look healthy. I'd rather have some meat on my bones than be a walking skeleton.

amen sister

[jolanda 0]

I accidentally wandered into one of those pro-ana groups on livjournal and it's a very scary place. They give tips on how to deceive parents and doctors, one girl had less than 100 calories(I think it was 80) that day and was planning to excersize all night to get even thinner. Scary sh!t.

Edited August 9, 2007 by jolanda

[Cassandra+Yuibi 0]

Those kinds of websites can suck vulnerable people in. I have a friend who was just looking for dieting tips, and somehow ended up on one of those websites and just became completely obsessed. She went from being a healthy young girl, to looking like a completely differnent person in a matter of a couple of months. It was really disgusting, and you feel so helpless to do anything for them.

I don't understand it at all either. I like food- and hey, I may have a few extra pounds and some cellulite- but my SO loves me regardless- and isn't that what matters most?

[almaty 19]

Those kinds of websites can suck vulnerable people in. I have a friend who was just looking for dieting tips, and somehow ended up on one of those websites and just became completely obsessed. She went from being a healthy young girl, to looking like a completely differnent person in a matter of a couple of months. It was really disgusting, and you feel so helpless to do anything for them.

I don't understand it at all either. I like food- and hey, I may have a few extra pounds and some cellulite- but my SO loves me regardless- and isn't that what matters most?

don't understand it at all either. I like food- and hey, I may have a few extra pounds and some cellulite- but my SO loves me regardless- and isn't that what matters most?

true sister..and also, that you are okay with who you are at this point time...no charge..dr dean

[thetreble 19]

I think it is sad, especially for the younger ones who are greatly influenced. I also think that there is so much misinformation out there on how to be healthy and thin. If you talk to a nutritionist or a professional athlete, they will tell you that you need to put food in your body in order for you to lose weight healthily. The unfortunate outcome in many of these young kids situations is that because they have deprived their body of nutrients, they have suffocated and damaged their body's organs. Many will have a lifetimes worth of health problems because of the strain they put on the internal while starving themselves or being bulimic.

[Queen Jenn 0]

I don't understand it at all either. I like food- and hey, I may have a few extra pounds and some cellulite- but my SO loves me regardless- and isn't that what matters most?

Same here - I like food. I have some extra pounds and cellulite, too and I'm okay with that. Everybody's body is built differently. Variety is the spice of life. And my SO loves me just the way I am. It makes me feel good to know he thinks I'm beautiful and loves me no matter what the scales say.

What matters most is that you are trying to be healthy. And eating less than 1200 calories a day and/or vomitting obsessively and exercising excessively IS NOT HEALTHY.