1. Someone got to Fatherhoody by googling “Pictures of Anorexic Women”.  I don’t have any pictures here of anorexic women.  However, it made me think about the person doing the Googling.  They were either searching for a project or perhaps they were searching to compare.  That’s something Stunning talked about… Anorexia is not defined by how much you weigh.  Most anorexic girls will get to very unhealthy weights, however, even when they’re at 130 pounds – they’re still anorexic.

Therefore, to someone looking for a picture of an anorexic girl… perhaps trying to compare yourself to her to see if you’re skinnier or heavier or whatever… it doesn’t work that way.  It’s about your attitude about losing weight and your attitude about eating. 

2. This wasn’t the easiest thing for my wife to do… write all of this stuff out.  Therefore, I’d like to take just a moment to say thank you to her.  As I said in Monday’s post, part of me believed her experience with this disease would have a positive impact on others.  Some days that thought was the pervasive one in my head.  I hope these past few days impacted someone in the positive.  Even if you’re not struggling with an eating disorder, you might be struggling with something else… I urge you to talk about it.  You don’t know the positive impact you could have on another person.  I am so proud of my wife this week for the courage she had to do this.

3. 90% of people with eating disorders are women.  I sometimes think about the 10% that are men.  For a disease that carries a stigma like it does for women, imagine going through it as a guy.  We also think of this disease affecting college age girls (at least I do), but 40% of cases are in women 15 to 19 years old.  How sad that at a young age of 15 someone would have to go through this.

4. 40% of 9- and 10-year-old girls are already trying to lose weight.

5. Females with anorexia nervosa have a higher suicide rate than those with any other mental health disorder and the general population up to 60 times higher according to one study!  You think it doesn’t affect a person?!?

6. Get help.  If you think you might have an eating disorder… then more than likely you do…  Get help now before it becomes too late.  A registered dietician can run $80 per visit, but it’s worth the money.  Most health insurers cover 20 to 30 visits to a counselor per year, so don’t delay.  This will affect your life and it will affect every life around you.  The question is… is you being skinny worth ruining relationships?  My wife and I were lucky, we made it through… but not everyone can nor will be that lucky.