Misconceptions

Plenty of other blogs have mentioned the whole John Prescott thing, but I feel it doesn't highlight an important issue.

There are so many misconceptions about eating disorders. A lot of people assume it's all about teenage girls trying to be thin. They don't have a clue about the deeper, emotional issues behind it and they don't even guess that it could affect older people and guys.

That makes me wonder, what about the people who suffer?

How many guys have an eating disorder but don't know anything about the subject, and so don't believe that they do? For several years, I didn't believe I had an eating disorder, simply because I didn't know enough about them. In my mind, anorexia was not eating, bulimia was throwing up a lot, and EDNOS didn't exist. Since I didn't make myself throw up, I didn't think I was bulimic and I obviously wasn't anorexic. So I thought I was just weak and greedy.

I can't be the only person whose lack of knowledge blinds them to an illness. There must be plenty of people out there, whether guys, or older women or girls of the average age who don't follow the usual pattern, who don't know what they're suffering with. Because they don't guess it's an eating disorder, it doesn't occur to them to read up about them.

And then there are the healthy people who no a disordered person. I remember reading a comment online from a guy saying he had no sympathy with anorexics. If they wanted to starve themselves to death, he didn't see why people should fuss about trying to make them eat. Unfortunately, this attitude is far too common. People don't understand the disease and assume it's just about wanting to be thin.

There are too many misunderstandings around these illnesses. The pro-ana cults really aren't helping those of us who are suffering, but that's a separate rant. There are just too many people who assume it's dieting gone too far who don't bother to read about the problems to learn the truth. Maybe that will change.

I hope that Prescott's admission will open people's eyes and make them realise that it's about deeper issues than that.

I hope that people who don't fit the clichéd pattern of eating disorders will look at their lives and realise they have a problem.

Most of all, I hope Prescott manages to recover completely. He did an incredibly brave thing in admitting to his problems and I wish him all the luck in the world with his fight.