Too Many ED Posts.....

Certain parts of CC have become overrun with ED posts.  Used to be that these posts were tolerated if the poster was in active recovery and seeking support.   Now I believe that the rule... "Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited"  is no longer being upheld vigorously enough and several boards, notably 'Health & Support', 'Young Calorie Counters' and 'Maintenance', are just becoming talking-shops for people who are already underweight, undereating, swapping symptoms, swapping tips and tricks for avoiding eating, and have no intention of any kind of recovery.

It's reaching offensive/disturbing/dangerous levels and is becoming offputting for CC members who do not have an eating disorder, in my opinion.  They will check out some posts and conclude that CC is not for them... it's only for people with eating disorders.  They will walk away rather than post their problem.  And that would be a huge pity and do a huge disservice to what is a very good resource for 'healthy and sustainable weight management'.

I'd like the mods to be a lot tougher in reinforcing the rules and lock down these ED threads more quickly.  Get the website back to where it was.

I second this...it's extremely frustrating, especially when those with unhealthy ideas of weightloss, eating, exercise, body image, etc. want to argue with you and then resort to personal insults.

Agreed. CC is about healthy weight management. That means that people in active recovery are welcome. However, that does not include people just wanting to complain about how ill they feel, how their parents are 'forcing' them to put on weight, how much they liked their underweight bodies, how much they distrust or hate their doctor/psychiatrist/nutritionist/parents and how it's impossible to eat the required weight-gain intake daily.

It's funny, I was thinking of posting something like this myself earlier today, so I'm glad the issue has been raised.

Thanks you two...   I was expecting a rockier ride on this one.

I think you would get a rockier ride had you posted this in the Health & Support forum, where most of those people would probably jump to their own defence.

I agree with this as well.  The issue seems to be particularly worse on the weekends, especially Saturday mornings!  Is it a sad realization when 8 out of 10 posts in the "Hot Forum Topics" page are ED related.  As someone in maintenance, I find this very frustrating, and have started posting less as a result.  It is hard to find an area - aside from The Lounge and Fitness forums (sometimes Foods?) that are not taken over by these types of posts. 

Thanks Jane.  It's time this has been brought up.  It is to the point that I don't even open half the posts because it looks like it is one of the ED posts.  We need to push the Mods to keep this site as a Healthy Weight management site.  Thanks again.

Original Post by hotrebeccainmesa:

I second this...it's extremely frustrating, especially when those with unhealthy ideas of weightloss, eating, exercise, body image, etc. want to argue with you and then resort to personal insults.

omg that thread was pathetic rebecca. the size 0 size 2 deal.

thanks for saying this gi-jane.

I love CC, but I have to agree with gi-jane.

Original Post by lonestar45:

Thanks Jane.  It's time this has been brought up.  It is to the point that I don't even open half the posts because it looks like it is one of the ED posts.  We need to push the Mods to keep this site as a Healthy Weight management site.  Thanks again.

 Agreed! Thanks gi-jane for bringing this up..

Agreed!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks, GI-Jane!

I second this too.

Thanks GI Jane, let's not lose a great site.

absolutey agree with gijane, thanks for brnging it up

Thanks for everyones support.  Let's keep this site going strong.

Why don't you become a mod then Gi?  Perhaps you can offer your insight to these wayward counters that are harming their bodies.  You have a way about you, perhaps your knowledge will lead someone to a healthier lifestyle behind the scenes.

Just a thought! Possibly have a ED Forum and a few mods stay concentrated on moderating that? But I do agree with Gi , it is becoming more and more rampant, but in turn I can say those who I have accepted as friends are really trying. So why not offer your support to a few, also.

Take care and God Bless.

In full agreement. This is a place for people who want to become healthier - whether it is in weight gain loss or maintenance.

Mods, please be more aggressive in moderating those that just want to stage a pity party with themselves as the guest of honor. They could very well be triggering each other which is why they are proliferating.

Is there some way that the "hot topics" could be moderated to make sure that sort of post does not become the easy go to topic?

i also agree..... it has turned into a 'eating disorder site'.

though i hope im not the pot calling the kettle black......?

iv actually backed away from here alot coz it has just become awash with 14 year olds tricking ppl about eating food or only eating 700 cals...

This is a touchy issue, I think. I just recently got active again on CC, trying to lose some ED Recovery weight, so I sort of see this from both sides. Don't get me wrong, I definitely agree with you.

I honestly just think this site is no good for anyone under say...18? When I was full-on Ana, at age 17, all this website did was enable me, and I got so much worse. Now I look at these posts from 14 and 15 year-old girls talking about eating 1300 calories a day and I want to cry! These girls are just setting themselves up to develop disordered eating instead of letting their bodies grow.

As for the Health&Support forum, it seems like there have been more and more posts almost encouraging and definitely perpetuating anorexia. I hate hate hate seeing this, considering I'm still trying to recover. I have no idea how to approach the problem, either, because the truth is a lot of these girls are just sick and don't realize it.

I'd like to see just a better segregation of CC, or maybe just tighter mod in the problem groups that you've mentioned, so that those with ED can be a part of groups that don't just perpetuate their problem. When I was sickest, one of my biggest steps in getting better was to try to stay away from this website, and that's sad. Now it's getting even worse. I think this place has the potential to help these people, but it's sort of doing the opposite right now.

"Mods, please be more aggressive in moderating those that just want to stage a pity party with themselves as the guest of honor. They could very well be triggering each other which is why they are proliferating."

I think this post was a little harsh...I know it doesn't seem fair, but just try to have a little sympathy for those who don't even realize how they are harming themselves as well as others. As a girl trying to recover from ED the healthy way, I find this idea that they are trying to "stage a pity party" pretty offensive. We should try to find a different outlet for them so that they might get better, instead of trying to ban them all.

I almost 100% agree, but...

I remember when I first joined this site people pinned me as having an eating disorder even though my weight was in the healthy range, and I was aiming for a weight in the healthy range. I was receiving quite a bit of hate.
My weight is at the lower end of the BMI range for my height, so people assumed I had some form of disordered eating. I'll admit my eating patterns are kind of sporadic (I eat little during the day, and a lot at night), but so are my sleeping patterns. Both of which my doctor know about, and is trying to help me with.
I ended up asking more questions in the fitness forum, because I'm a dumb dumb when it comes to fitness (and I was really only trying to lose 4 pounds anyways).

It just seems like a lot of people are labeled as having an ED if they're not at least 20 pounds overweight. There's nothing wrong with being healthy and wanting to get healthier. I might weigh 112 pounds, but I'm definitely not in great shape.

Now...the members who are clinically underweight and stubborn about continuing to lose weight, that's a problem. I feel like they should be directed to the weight gain forum for help, and if they violate the rules again, should simply have their account deleted.

 eta: I always wondered why gi-jane wasn't a mod....must have turned the offer down at some point?

I apologize as I was not clear.

Not all ed posters are just out for the affirmation that they have a unique body chemistry that requires and thrives on starvation mode. Ed posters in recovery do know that they need help and their posts reflect that. These posts reflect the struggle between knowing and understanding and they should be supported.

This is not, however, a website geared towards helping the young teen not in recovery that will tantrum when told repeatedly by mods and others that what they are doing is not just unhealthy, but downright dangerous.  Instead they continue to post with high frequency, trying their best to receive, yes, receive affirmation from someone that they are doing a healthy thing.

The idea is to minimize or redirect the posts that consist of eds who refuse to accept the facts when presented dozens of time over and refuse to be self moderators. These posts are not safe for the most fragile of those in recovery. They are also not what CC is about. It is about healthy eating and weight goals for adults.