Why don't you just eat?

[Cat Dancer]

Why don't you just put food in your mouth and chew it and swallow it? (Heard recently.)

Why is it not that simple?

 

[lallieth]

That's like people saying to me about smoking "well why dont you just quit" easier said than done...I believe that eating disorders can become an addiction and habit as well as smoking can.It interferes with your daily life,you think about it all the time...are consumed by the absolute NEED & desire to do it.

When I was on Wellbutrin to help me quit smoking,I pretty much quit eating,it took away my appetite and desire to eat..and that scared me.When I went off the wellbutrin,I had to force myself to eat again,and food literally gagged me..In fact I spent the next 3 weeks off the wellbutrin eating soft foods,I could NOT eat any decent solid foods..(PS I have NEVER told anyone this before)

So I can imagine the fear you feel when you are faced with the prospect of eating.I know for me,each meal was becoming scary.

It's not simple to just start eating again unless you can and are willing to figure out the underlying issues causing the eating disorder...

 

[Into The Light]

i'm not sure why it's so hard. i do know that when one is very ill and has no appetite it's very difficult to get food down.

i think there may be two factors here, physically it's just hard to eat when not hungry when you're that sick, but also mentally. not eating is a form of control, or rather, it feels like control. so if you were to eat you might feel like you're giving up any control you have.

 

[ladylore]

i'm not sure why it's so hard. i do know that when one is very ill and has no appetite it's very difficult to get food down.

i think there may be two factors here, physically it's just hard to eat when not hungry when you're that sick, but also mentally. not eating is a form of control, or rather, it feels like control. so if you were to eat you might feel like you're giving up any control you have.

And for myself as I do have anorexic tendencies when I am under stress - I almost hear a voice saying "don't eat". Its almost that I need permission from someone else to say its ok to go ahead have eat something.

Also the my throat can constrict and I am nauseated. Food really looks unappealing.

I'm sorry that happened to you Janet. That really wasn't fair because there is so much more to it then simply not wanting to eat.

:hug:

 

[David Baxter PhD]

It's ignorance. The person saying that may (or may not) have good intentions but it's indicative of someone who has no concept of what an eating disorder is like to live with.

It's like saying to someone who's depressed, "Why don't you just go out and do something fund to cheer yourself up?". Nobody who has ever suffered from depression would say that. No one who has or ever had an eating disorder would say, "Why don't you just eat?".

 

[braveheart]

It's not that simple because food has so much loaded meaning, and there's lots of pain involved.

:hug:

 

[psychotic_bunny]

Having an eating disorder isn't a choice made by one, what starts out as a diet quickly turns into something much more controlling and possessive. As you start to lose weight it becomes your whole focus, your world just like those who use drugs and spend their days thinking about their next fix, anorexics or those on the road to anorexia spend their days thinking about food, weight and exercise. As you lose more and more weight and skip more meals you lose the ability to think logic. Food becomes terrifying because to eat automatically means you'll gain weight. Logically you know it wont make you bigger automatically but when you are in the grips of anorexia you see yourself growing bigger on one drink or one piece of bread etc. Making someone eat wont solve the issues surrounding their eating disorder, whether its underlining abuse, self esteem issues or bad body image the issues that are being suppressed by the eating disorder need to be addressed and you have to start working through them to begin to heal.

Some anorexics such as myself do eat but still feel guilty for eating even though we know we have to to stay healthy and alive,, but it's still hard. You constantly see yourself as fat, constant hear yourself and a voice telling you you're fat and you shouldn't have eaten that. When you're in the grips of the disorder to defy that voice is terrifying to the point where you feel that you are constantly being told you're fat, ugly and worthless. If you struggled with all these feelings and other issues would you really want to force yourself to eat when it causes more pain?

It's not really about food. Food is the cover up for the real issues ( how you feel about yourself, your body, abuse, etc etc)
I hate how people don't think beyond the food issue, because no matter how low you get on the scales its never good enough, no matter how little you eat if at all its not good enough.