Pro-anorexia websites actually benefit people suffering from eating disorders, a surprising new study suggests.
According to nearly three dozen bloggers interviewed in a study published in Health Communication this month, writing for so-called “pro-ana” websites that serve as online communities for anorexics is a therapeutic experience for some suffering the disease.
“Participants were motivated to blog because they found social support, a way to cope with a stigmatized illness, and means of self expression,” the study’s authors wrote, adding that the Web writers “described blogging as a cathartic experience.”
Though many such blogs have been shut down and platforms like Tumblr and Pinterest have explicitly banned so-called “thinspo” (short for “thinspiration”) content that encourages self-harm and extreme weight loss, many sites of this kind continue to flourish online, and researchers say they might be serving some positive functions.
In conversations with 33 bloggers on various pro-ana websites, the authors explore how isolating it can be to live with an eating disorder and the way that these websites serve as a hub for people with these illnesses to find support while remaining anonymous.
“There is nothing new about the interaction between anorexic patients,” study co-author Daphna Yeshua-Katz told the Daily News via email on Tuesday. “What is new here is that by finding a venue in social media, these expressions are suddenly visible to the rest of society.”
Yeshua-Katz and her co-author, Nicole Martins, found that the bloggers’ primary motivation for creating these website was to seek social support they couldn’t get from family or friends in real life, the study found.
“Most … started publishing their blog because they did not want to feel alone,” the authors wrote.
“I needed someone that would understand,” 16-year-old blogger “Phanny” told them. “Nobody ‘normal’ understands why you would want to starve yourself for days on end.”
Bloggers were also motivated by the chance to express themselves.
“All my friends and teachers and pretty much everyone knows about it but I can’t go up to them and say ‘oh, I had a really bad day today because I ate too much’ or ‘I had a great day today, I swam miles and miles,'” wrote 18-year-old blogger “Mary,” who is in recovery for her eating disorder. “Online you can say all that stuff ’cause no one can hold you accountable for that.”
Many of those surveyed said they were able to be more truthful about themselves online, and that they blogged to remove the idea that eating disorders were in any way glamorous.
“We know we are killing ourselves and no matter how much weight we lose, we’re not going to be happy,” an 18-year-old blogger named “Blanche” said.
Those interviewed for the study described feelings of relief when they were able to share their situations with others online, and that the encouragement they got from each other could even help them become more healthy once they decide to go into recovery.
Nevertheless, many also noted the negative impacts of these blogs on their lives, from the fear of their true identities being discovered to the fact that the blogs can reinforce and encourage their unhealthy behavior and pass it on to younger women.
“Paraxodically, blogging about anorexia serves to both alleviate and trigger anxiety about living with this stigmatized illness,” the authors concluded, closing by recommending further research into the topic.
“Shutting down the blogs will remove them from the public sphere for a while, but will not make the disorder disappear,” Yeshua-Katz said. “If they are banned in one place, they’ll move to another.”
