"Wannarexia": It's Not Wonderland

I would like to take a moment to dispel the myth of "wannarexia".

Urbandictionary.com defines wannarexia as "An imaginary disease most commonly found among preteen to teenage overweight females who claim to have the eating disorder "anorexia", but they do not meet the criteria. In fact they do not have an eating disorder at all. Most wannarexic people feel that anorexia is a "quick fix" to lose weight and it is glamorous."

This raises my hackles for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it displays that people are completely and totally ignorant of the hell that anorexia is. It's not glamorous and is not a quick fix. It is a real psychiatric illness that stays with people for most of the rest of their lives.

Secondly, I would argue that these people ARE in fact sick. If you are overweight, it is likely you have some kind of disordered eating (if not an eating disorder. I may do a post on the difference sometime later.) And if you're saying, you WANT an eating disorder, that probably means you already have one and you still need help.

I feel like these people shouldn't be dismissed and still need to see a therapist. Just the term "wannarexic" is very invalidating. The whole idea of anorexia centers around success and control. But these people are overweight and in Ana's eyes, have failed and have no control. Now they are craving that success and that high. It seems like if they don't get help soon, they could fall into a very serious problem, be that anorexia or bulimia or binge eating disorder or compulsive overeating or EDNOS. It is not something that should be dismissed and needs to be taken seriously.

And it is definitely not a term that people should just walk around using. And individual with body insecurities and eating problems would feel extremely invalidated if they were told they were a wannarexic. It would be like calling someone a failure. If you think your friend has an eating problem, get them help! Be kind to each other people!