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Food? No Thanks.

I like the way, scratch that, I love the way skinny girls look in clothes. In my opinion any form of clothing never goes wrong on them, which is why I understand and can relate with the constant desire to lose or not gain weight which many of us go through. But when it becomes excessive (after all too much of everything is not good) it becomes a serious problem, in fact one that shouldn’t be taken trivially. Psychologists term it a mental eating disorder classified under bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa, it is not just a white man’s illness, I repeat it is not a white man’s disease, because many black people believe such doesn’t affect them.
Bulimia is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating and purging. During a binge, bulimic people consume an enormous number of calories in a brief period of time and feel an overwhelming loss of control as they are doing so. The binge is then followed by purging behavior – usually vomiting, taking laxatives, taking diuretics or using enemas, and sometimes fasting or excessive exercise.
Anorexia is a serious eating disorder that affects women and men of all ages. It’s characterized by three key features:
  • refusal to maintain a healthy body weight
  • an intense fear of gaining weight
  • a distorted body image
When you have anorexia, the desire to lose weight becomes more important than anything else. Fortunately, recovery is possible. With treatment and support, you can break anorexia’s self-destructive pattern and regain your health and self-confidence.
Yet despite greater public awareness, certain misconceptions still exist. For example, many people think eating disorders are brought about by only by vanity. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather than being vain, people with eating disorders struggle with issues about who they are, what they are worth, and how to negotiate relationships.
It starts from the mind, in my opinion, because when nothing else matters apart from your looks, then you begin to cut back on what you eat, how you exercise, what you wear even how you relate with others. This slowly controls your mind, because you delude yourself that no weight you lose is ever enough.
Anytime I remember anorexia, one song comes to mind, Pretty Hurts by Beyoncé. If the music video didn’t illustrate some parts of the struggles of anorexia, the lyrics give it a precise angle; “Perfection is a disease of a nation, it’s the soul that needs surgery”.  People battling with anorexia tell themselves that they have to be perfect in order to look good and be self-confident.
I won’t act self-righteous and say that it is crazy to consciously evade and starve oneself of food because there are days I don’t feel pretty, some days my mind is consumed solely on how to lose weight. Mental illnesses are of a wide category, eating disorders are one of them, it is time as people of the world to look critically into this illness and genuinely seek to help others who are struggling and battling with eating disorders.



PS: MANI is group of talented young people who are actively engaged in spreading the awareness and saying NO to the stigmatization of mental illnesses in Nigeria.
Check out the website: www.mentallyaware.org
You can also follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @mentallyawareng


With love,
TheInspiredCutiee 😘


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