This is What an Eating Disorder Looks Like
Lauren Greenfield has compiled a piece on eating disorders that will air on HBO Nov. 14th. It’s a sobering look at a world that is totally alien to me, but very familiar to millions of women in this country and elsewhere in the world. It’s a must see in my opinion (You all know someone who has been affected by this if not yourself), but I have been told by someone close to me that bulimics and anorectics feed off this stuff. Apparently people with these disorders look at women like this with a sense of admiration. They are mentally-ill people desperately in need of help, so treat this with caution and try to be honest with yourself and how these photos affect you.
Here’s some facts, from the ‘Thin’ site, that really opened my eyes…
- 1 of 7 women have a chronic eating disorder.
- Anorexia ranks as the third most-common chronic illness among adolescent women.
- 64% of college-aged women have experience eating-disorder symptoms.
- 90% of sufferers of eating disorders are female.
- Anorexia is the deadliest of all psychiatric disorders with a 10% mortality rate.
That last one blew me away.
Excerpt:
THIN is a photographic essay and a documentary film about the treatment of eating disorders. In 1997, while on assignment for Time, Greenfield began documenting the lives of patients at the Renfrew Center in Coconut Creek, Florida, a forty-bed residential facility for the treatment of women with eating disorders. She subsequently returned to Renfrew to take more photographs, and was eventually given unprecedented access to film the daily lives of patients. Thin provides a window into the complicated and difficult process of treatment, the culture of rehab, and the experience of struggling with an eating disorder. The result is an experiential and emotional journey that allows a greater understanding of the complexity of eating disorders: that they are not simply about food or body image or self-esteem, but a tangle of personal, familial, cultural and mental health issues.
The film will broadcast on HBO November 14th at 9pm EST.
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