Anorexia and Bulimia - are they really diseases?
 

So I've heard a couple people refer to anorexia as a disease.... which to me makes no sense.
I looked it up and it's more prominantly refered to as a "disorder" which makes more sense, but still seems.... wrong somehow.

"I don't want to eat" and "I love to eat but hate getting fat so I force myself to puke it up" sound like choices to me... not disorders.

So I started to think... depression... is that a disorder or just a choice? Well, a good portion of the time, it's a result of a chemical inbalance in the brain. This constitutes a disorder to me.

People who don't want to eat or have perfectly good food and then throw it up intentionally... I guess I just don't understand it.

I think it's the same as alcoholism being considered a "disease". I don't think they're diseases in the traditional sense but they are very destructive. At least that's my :2 cents:

That is very well said. I think also people make it kind of a way of life. Once you start doing it and you see the results and they are good, you will keep doing it. I don't know, kind of weird to explain, but it is a choice in the sense that you can always get help for it.

try a site like webmd.com for good medical advice.
this is a webmaster board, all these guys can do is tell you how to OD on booze or drugs.

I'm not looking for medical advice... I want people's opinions on the subject. Is it really a disease or not?

Ok, better question.... do men get anorexia or bulimia? And if so, why don't as many get it?

Because men aren't subjected to airbrushed magazine spreads on how "they are supposed to look", which we all know is absurd. Imagine living life thinking that you have to look at thin or as sexy as the women of Maxim, Playboy, or Cosmo or you won't be loved by your significant other. Life must be pure hell for women!

Us guys, well, we just don't give enough of a fuck to even care.

I agree with you on this one Stuart

i know several men with bulemia, although i only know one with anorexia. i have known a number of women with both, and was myself anorexic for years.

as far as whether it is a disease, i guess it depends on what a disease IS. one of the definitions on dictionary.com is

A condition or tendency, as of society, regarded as abnormal and harmful.

in that case, yes, anorexia is a disease.