#nedaw

[eljayetc]

We don’t need awareness, we need education

[nedafeedinghope]

I am not a science project. I was not made to be viewed and I hate the fact that I feel like I am on constant display, asked to answer for a body I did not choose but love all the while.

Keah Brown, Respect My Disabled Body

[real-talk-recovery]

I wish I could convey how much all of this situation just sucks.

It sucks seeing other people's low weight pictures. 

It sucks seeing the attention/love/praise/validation these individuals get from posting them. 

It sucks feeling as though you were never sick if you don't make "proof" of your suffering public.

 It sucks to speak up against these things and have the majority of others respond with hostility and dismissal, because how could anyone criticize a poor anorexic who was so brave and strong to post pictures of themselves at death's doorstep?

It sucks seeing these images whether you want to or not, everywhere, every year, and having then stuck in your head while your disordered brain chips away at your confidence and reminds you that you were never that sick. 

It sucks seeing harmful preconceptions and stereotypes about EDs reinforced again and again under the guise of doing the exact opposite. 

It sucks knowing that these pictures are hurtful, but no one cares enough to listen to the people with eating disorders that ask for critical thought and good judgment to be used. 

It sucks knowing these images will be cropped, edited, and circulated as thinspo on the internet for years and years and years to come, being seen and shared and glorified by vulnerable populations.

 All of it hurts. All of it is exhausting.

[regina-sant]

Contrary to popular belief, an extremely low body weight and an emaciated appearance are not necessary requirements for someone to be anorectic. What is an undeniable consequence of the illness, however, is a dangerous bodily deterioration (whether its visible or not). In most cases we lose our ability to see these life-threatening changes, we're genuinely unable to grasp the reality of our condition. "Am I really that sick?," "I don't think I'm ill enough to qualify as an anorectic," "I can keep going, just a little bit further..." To all of you beautiful survivors out there: YOU ABSOLUTELY DO NEED HELP. You deserve health and happiness. There is no such thing as a "sick enough" line you need to cross in order to actually be sick. Truth is, your Eating Disorder will never be satisfied, it will tell you you can always be thinner, smaller, bonier... DO NOT WAIT ANY LONGER. SEEK HELP IMMEDIATELY. You will never actually reach that ideal state of "perfection" you were initially promised by your illness. It has always been a lie. #NEDAW #NEDAawarenessweek #EatingDisordersAwarenessWeek