Written by Erica Mones
As someone who suffers from an eating disorder, I’m used to seeing social media posts about eating disorders, ranging from the mildly disturbing to the outright offensive.
People who want to lose weight or sell weight loss products rely on jokes about gastroenteritis to connect with others.
But gastroenteritis, food poisoning, and gastrointestinal problems are no laughing matter, especially for people with bulimia nervosa.
People with bulimia often vomit on their own, which can lead to dehydration, seizures, irregular heartbeats, and even sudden heart attacks. So “flu jokes” are irresponsible at best and exploitative at worst.
Here are some recent posts I saw on Facebook: “So you’re just rocking this belly bug forever and don’t have to worry about putting the weight back on. But if you’re interested in how to gain weight without being too affected by the virus, if you’re If you think you can have the body and life you want and eat all the foods listed below in one day, please reach out.”
Next, the author promotes a multi-level marketing (MLM) business that sells “diet” foods. But when MLM marketers and meme enthusiasts rely on tasteless “tummy bug” jokes to promote weight loss, vomiting becomes an “acceptable” way to lose weight, even though purging is dangerous. It is seen as a tool that can be used.
While we understand that stigmatizing eating disorder behavior does not help those suffering, ED behavior should not be glamorized or made into a joke.
Bulimia can be fatal, and even if it’s not fatal, it can destroy your life.
When I myself reached the peak of my bulimia, my life spiraled out of control. Eating disorders are isolating illnesses, and in my case, it caused me to skip classes in college and isolate me from my friends.
At times, I felt like I was forced to live a double life because of my eating disorder. My friends saw me happy and successful, but they didn’t see my empty ice cream box or my toilet full of vomit. They didn’t realize my self-loathing, my fear, and my simultaneous hope that someday someone would uncover my secret.
With my disorder, I purged, even if I didn’t want to. I felt like I needed to throw up, so I did. They believed that if they were allowed to digest even small amounts of food, their bodies would swell up. And for me, gaining weight meant losing control of my life.
Deep down, my fear of gaining weight was actually related to my fear of failure. Subconsciously, I understood that as long as I took care of my diet and weight management, I wouldn’t have to pursue anything else.
Therefore, my bulimia became part of my daily routine.
At the height of my illness, a nutritionist at my treatment center told me that my body was breaking down on its own.
To most onlookers, I didn’t look haggard. I was within the “healthy weight” range for my height, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t sick.
My life revolved around food, avoiding it, eating it, chasing it, vomiting it, and burning it. While my friends started internships and found lovers, I was too ill to hold down a job or have a healthy relationship.
In the most mundane sense, I was my own worst enemy. I was on the warpath and ready to destroy myself.
So when I heard Emily Blunt’s character in The Devil Wears Prada lament, “One more stomach cold.” [her] Goal weight,” I cringed. I’m not just disgusted with myself, but with all the people who tend to think, “Maybe vomiting might help.” It’s not a permanent solution, but it may promote weight loss. ”
Therefore, it hurts me when I hear people promote weight loss products with jokes about vomiting. I feel like their words trivialize my experience with bulimia and my struggle in recovery.
Recovering from an eating disorder in a society that praises weight loss and normalizes disordered behavior can seem impossible, but it doesn’t have to be. We need to stop making dangerous “vomit” jokes and start understanding how our words affect others.
If you or a loved one is struggling with an eating disorder, National Eating Disorder HelplineToll-free number: 1-800-931-2237.
Erica Mohns is a writer who focuses on mental health. Her work has been featured on Yahoo, POPSUGAR, Well+Good, POPSUGAR UK, POPSUGAR Australia, The Progressive, and New Mobility.
This article was originally published at: Unwritten. Reprinted with permission from the author.