How To Cope if You Want to Become Anorexic

Sometimes the urge to become thin is overwhelming. You may reach a desperate state where you are willing to try anything, even something as dangerous as anorexia just so you can achieve ideal thinness. Take heart, there are some ways you can cope with this desperate desire that will keep you from risking your life by becoming anorexic.

1. Identify negative voices. The urge to be thin may come from a handful of different sources. Are you driven by the model bodies you see in magazines? Or maybe your mother is perpetually on a diet? Does someone else comment about your weight? Before you start to turn your own negative voice inward, find out if there are others pushing you to believe you need to be thinner.
2. Keep a journal. Writing down your thoughts and feelings is an excellent way to cope with much of what life throws your way. Make a pact with yourself that you will be completely honest with your journal and write to explore why you want to become anorexic. Remember that no one will read your journal without your permission so you can be honest.
3. Read about real life cases. Anorexia may seem like an easy solution for losing weight. On the surface it is enticing. All you have to do is quit eating and you will lose weight rapidly. If you toss in a ton of exercise at the same time, you will just melt away. The problem is that this is too simplistic a story. Instead of accepting the hype, get the truth from someone who’s been there. Read Wasted by Marya Hornbacher or Solitaire by Aimee Liu.
4. Find a better role model. Stop looking at models as the ideal and find someone else to admire. Look at your teachers, relatives and other adults involved in work you admire.
5. Talk to someone. Sometimes just sharing your feelings will help you get past them. Talk to someone you trust, a friend or an adult you respect. Be open about why you want to become anorexic and together you can explore different options that are better for your health and state of mind.
6. Get an honest opinion. What you see in the mirror may have no basis in reality. Many of our views about our bodies are not based in fact. There are plenty of eighty pound girls who think they are fat when you can see every bone in their body. Don’t trust what you see in the mirror. Instead get an honest, objective opinion from someone who does not know you.
7. Seek medical help. This is a last resort but should be used if you have already started trying to become anorexic. It takes a short time before anorexia starts to damage your body so if you’ve started down this road; get to your doctor quick. Ask for honest statistics and stories about the consequences of the disease. If your doctor can’t help, talk to a specialist in eating disorders.

Anorexia is a dangerous disease. Starving your body will cause it to deteriorate to the point of giving up and no longer functioning. Learn to cope before you let this disease take over your body and your life.