brasstackminis
Well-Known Member
Since this is a location where controversial topics are discussed, here we go!
So watching lots of different doctor shows like The Drs, Dr Oz, and Dr Phil something has been bugging me. When you watch them talk to a person struggling with Anorexia/Bulemia you hear people talk about how their 70 lb body is fat, bloated, ugly, not right. They call it a body dismorphic disorder. The person who is clearly starving and no where close to being fat but more like a walking skeleton...sees a fat person in the mirror. We can clearly see that this person's brain is not seeing what we see. It is called a disorder and help is offered to teach the person what is fat and what is normal and what is dangerously thin..they are sent to intensive therapy so that they can begin to see what everyone else around them sees and to begin to love themself.
Then in another episode you will see a man who believes that he should be a woman. They comment that their penis should not be there. That they are a woman...they see a woman with a penis. They look in the mirror and see a woman when we see a man. It is not called a disorder. We are told we need to accept them the way they are and that what they are doing is trying to be normal. You get images of men's brains, women's brains and the brain of a man who sees a woman in the mirror and the latter is more similar to a woman's brain. They are sent to therapy, but to deal with other's perceptions of them...
So the question is first...has anyone ever done scans on a brain of a overweight person and compared them to an anorexic brain and a normal weight brain? Is this the "Chicken or the egg first" That is to say, is their brain that way because of the thought processes or does the brain that looks different causing the observed difference? The other question is really what is the difference? Both see themselves differently than everyone else around them and what they see is clearly not what actually is... I realize that anorexia is live threatening and feeling like you are a man in a woman's body is not...at first glance. But when you realize how many people attempt suicide because of it...it starts to look more and more similar. So what really is the difference?
I have friends that I love dearly that have both conditions...I am not bashing, just discussing.
So watching lots of different doctor shows like The Drs, Dr Oz, and Dr Phil something has been bugging me. When you watch them talk to a person struggling with Anorexia/Bulemia you hear people talk about how their 70 lb body is fat, bloated, ugly, not right. They call it a body dismorphic disorder. The person who is clearly starving and no where close to being fat but more like a walking skeleton...sees a fat person in the mirror. We can clearly see that this person's brain is not seeing what we see. It is called a disorder and help is offered to teach the person what is fat and what is normal and what is dangerously thin..they are sent to intensive therapy so that they can begin to see what everyone else around them sees and to begin to love themself.
Then in another episode you will see a man who believes that he should be a woman. They comment that their penis should not be there. That they are a woman...they see a woman with a penis. They look in the mirror and see a woman when we see a man. It is not called a disorder. We are told we need to accept them the way they are and that what they are doing is trying to be normal. You get images of men's brains, women's brains and the brain of a man who sees a woman in the mirror and the latter is more similar to a woman's brain. They are sent to therapy, but to deal with other's perceptions of them...
So the question is first...has anyone ever done scans on a brain of a overweight person and compared them to an anorexic brain and a normal weight brain? Is this the "Chicken or the egg first" That is to say, is their brain that way because of the thought processes or does the brain that looks different causing the observed difference? The other question is really what is the difference? Both see themselves differently than everyone else around them and what they see is clearly not what actually is... I realize that anorexia is live threatening and feeling like you are a man in a woman's body is not...at first glance. But when you realize how many people attempt suicide because of it...it starts to look more and more similar. So what really is the difference?
I have friends that I love dearly that have both conditions...I am not bashing, just discussing.
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