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[–]cybitch 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yes, pro ana communities were full of this sort of masochism. Anyone who wasn't anorexic would've been confused as to how the girls could be so conscious that Ana was cruel and killing them but also still participate in the community as though it was a positive thing instead of a death cult. Self-destructiveness in the name of fitting some sort of societal standard is basically what teenage girlhood is all about these days. Just pick a cult and prepare to mold yourself into whatever unreasonable standard it worships. And no matter what you do, you will always fall short.

[–]Spikygrasspod 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I don't know about anyone else, but for me self harm, including food restriction, was a way to both justify and express my distress. I felt like I didn't have a real reason for the distress. Self harm made it real, made it embodied, so that I wasn't just... I don't know... overreacting. Making it up. I still don't understand all the mechanisms of self harm, but I think I know it when I see it. I feel sorrow and compassion for these young women. I wish they could see other paths forward.