i might get burned.. scorched even for this post!!

im posting this here in weight gain coz its wher most of the ed sufferers hang out....

do you think there should be censorship on the photos ppl put on their cc accounts. ok now i know if your sufferering and have a pic of yourself where you're skinny, you cant help it... but i have seen some pics of people who are devastatingly thin - but are posing in a sort of thinspo way... you know like mirror photos or photos designed to highlight bones and emaciation. these are not photos taken socially or in a 'random photo' context. they seem to be planned and thought out. as though the sufferer is proud. they're not a photo from a recent birthday or anything!!

now this site doesnt advocate or promote pro-ana or mia behaviour. in fact it bans it. but i cant help but think that sometimes the allowance of these photos sets up a competitive atmosphere.... an unhealthy competition.

i have great respect for a lot of ppl here. so this is not directed at anyone ok? but.. i find them triggering. and the sick part of me is sometimes still envious (great shame in admitting that).

so i am just wondering what ppl's opinions are....

please dont flame me... its just a question and observation.

idk if im in a "better" or diff place but when i see DISGUSTING pictures like that it maeks me think, OMG, EWWW, i dont want to move and i want to gain XXXX MORE weight.

those pictures give me goosebumps and creep me out, honestly.  i never really heard of :thinspo", i have no clue what it is nor do i want to.

i feel bad for those ppl, its DISGUSTING

FIDGET-we cant help our thoughts, uve come so far but really, think what those ppl's "LIVES" are like, i mean really, can we even call it a life at all, must be a miserable existence.

hmm, wonder if that was harsh at all...

I hear what you're sayin but ive never seen any?

where have you seen these?

jus various ppl's profiles.

agru... the thought is like a dart. it hits me instantly on exposure to the picture. then when i think about the misery life was at that stage, i know where i am now is better. but i have a knee-jerk reaction, a pang of something... that suddenly hits me. but then i get angry - coz i think if you brandish photos like that around, you're far less likely to want to change.

maybe its just a reaction to where i am right now.... food isnt really the prob at the mo. but other stuff is and i guess i struggling to face it with out a crutch to lean on. or something to block it out...

yup, it sux, we all have our issues so to speak, i know i have mine even if they may differ from urs, idk, keep pushing, i know im at least in a better place than b4, thank goodness!

i agree with you i have some on mine but they are purly snap shots not poses and something you would want to be like. facebook is a prime example people emaciated posing in a kind of sexy manner , its terrible people calling themselves ana , sorry ive diverted a bit , i agree  not sure what can be done though h x

OH BY THE WAY...... ITS LOVELY TO PUT A FACE TO THE POSTS AND THE MAIL..... LOVELY!!! :D

haha, i couldnt make the pics larger...maybe thats a sign that i need to make MYSELF larger so the pics will be larger?? lol

im going to go outside and feel some sun, its already getting cool, MAKE it a marvelous day everyone!!

I think that it would be hard to censor if people are trying to run CC like a democracy... but if not, then maybe people should comment. If CC's rules and regs state that people can't promote pro-ana/mia lifestyles, perhaps it also applies to pictures?

It's odd... I know what you  mean about triggering, it triggers the "oh I could be thinner" thought process, but at the same time it makes my logic jump on board and I'm grateful I don't look that way, and grateful I don't want to pose that way... like the devil and the angel on my shoulder, though in this case the angel wins!

Some of those pics are definitely startling, but I mean, at the thumbnail size it's kind of easy to tell what you shouldn't click on, if it bothers you. I'm not sure why people would want to post those... but. Picture posting: It's a free Internet. Sort of. You can't tell what the poster's intention is, so it'd be unfair to blanket censor.

Hi. To me these pictures for what ever reason whether it to show others how far they have come,their current state of how ill,etc still seems like a cry for help or attention. It shows that this person has something very severe mentally going on. I know when I was at my worst like death weight I kept very covered but to the world they saw someone and now looking back I see this to as someone who had some severe problems. Very sad. I guess my bigger concern and know it is common among people who do or have had an ed feel this as a trigger. I am sorry fidget you are going through some hard times. I am glad though you see the connection. I had a very emotional week and I do did not want to feel and in the past would of used my ed to not care and be numb. This time I did not and spent a few days just crying on and off. You know what though I sat with the feelings and got them out and the past few days have been better. So hold to hope and stay strong. If you want an email buddy I am here. I have been wanting to tell you that you helped me a lot. When I came to this board you gave me some harsh advice but it was true. It has been a hard 5 months of gaining but I am almost at my healthy bmi and I often at hard times think of your advice. Anyhow sorry for getting off track,hang in there all

God, Abbi - your post really touched me. THANK YOU. i am so glad you are reaching health. i genuinely am. I also am sorry about my harsh words, but very glad you saw past the harshness and saw that truly - i want to offer support and pass on the light of recovery.

you have changed alot these past months - well judging by your posts you have. you are really insightful, and i think you are far better about expressing your true thoughts and offering some great advice to people.

i dunno whats up with me at the mo. a combination of things i guess. but i spoke to someone, who's path i crossed randomly and she certainly made me aware that i was definately heading for trouble if i wasnt careful. so i guess i need to open my eyes to the dangers in front of me. things are piling up here and its starting to get to me...... sigh..... God grant me some peace of mind .... please

Agreed 100%. I think it's one thing posting photos in your private gallery of yourself in worse places - it shows how far you've come - but making your profile pic an obviously-posed-in-front-of-the-mirror or self taken photo with your neck tensed to show tendons, legs and arms at weird angles to get the 'thinnest' picture - (I see this  A LOT on health and support, as well as facebook) is downright triggering and frankly belongs on a pro-ana site, not a public forum for health.

Just my two cents.

Original Post by mashed_tatties:

Agreed 100%. I think it's one thing posting photos in your private gallery of yourself in worse places - it shows how far you've come - but making your profile pic an obviously-posed-in-front-of-the-mirror or self taken photo with your neck tensed to show tendons, legs and arms at weird angles to get the 'thinnest' picture - (I see this  A LOT on health and support, as well as facebook) is downright triggering and frankly belongs on a pro-ana site, not a public forum for health.

Just my two cents.

^This x100.

ETA: I've used other health sites before where you are free to post photos of yourself, but "thin" photos and thinspo photos are against the rules. I think that would be a great amendment to the CC rules... some posters (I can think of a few just offhand) have whole galleries of emaciated photographs which seem to "show off" their bones. Honestly, it's just so unnecessary and just as likely to trigger as any ED-related post.

Fidget really I mean it and I thankyou for your praise. Of course every day is a battle but at least doing it. Anyhow back to you. I think you should see what is going on in your life as a red flag. What do you think can help you right now? Do you have real time support whether friends or therapy you could get support/guidence/help from? Trust me I know the feeling of when it rains it poors. That was my life up till 5 months ago. Not just ed issues but life problems. Like if it could happen it did and I was not coping at all. I waited to long to get support and do things in a different manner. Since you are being vague about what is piling up I can't give so much insight but is there a way you can break some of the issues down and look at what you can change to do better. Even small things add up and can make one feel motivated at least. Again I am here if you want support. I am not one to judge trust me cause I have had and do have many "issues". On a side note I will say though you still tell it how it is to people it is in a more compassionate way and with less of an angry tone. I think you are approaching things much better. Truly you remind me of a therapist I had in the past. If I would of listened to harsh but right on views when this began I would of saved myself 14 years of crap. I encourage you to look at what you would tell someone else in your position and then apply that to you. Hold to hope and I too hope for peace and wish you that as well

Ok back to the picture thing even like I said if someone has it as how far they have come to me is still a great need for attention and reassurance. Why can't one find that within. To me it is also so people state to them that they were so bad in the past almost like an accomplishment which it is not. Really even at a normal weight why someone would post a barely dressed body is beyond me other then for the need of attention. A nice picture our with friends or just a nice regular day to day clothing on to me is more normal.

rebelchick you give such helpful advice , and you are such a support i just wish I could help you right now , abbi beat me to it , I really hope you start to feel a bit better soon h xxx im not being funny but do you think you may of taken on to much with working alot ? just a suggestion

Apparently this post had the opposite effect. I was trying to help, sorry. I may have come off as a jerk saying I don't care what people think of me, but that wasn't my point, I was trying to help. I don't care if you hate me and we can't be friends, but I care if I hurt your feelings. so sorry.

btw, thanks for going through my posts to find anything you could sling against me. If you had chosen to, you would have seen I revised my goal weight after realizing the initial one was way too low. I put my goal weight as 119 as like what, my third post? So you had to go all the way back to the end of my posts to see that. And I shared some intimate details about the eating issues, which by the way, I am getting help for. If you would have looked, I stopped posting for about two months until this one. Those were not recent posts. You called me a hypocrite for calling you a hypocrite, but isn't it just as hypocritical for you to have found all the information you could to call me out when you found it hurtful that I called you out? Whatever. This is old. Sorry I hurt feelings.

hey qualquun, oddly enough, I found it triggering not being on your list. And if I wasn't having a hard enough time with the issues today - now I feel freaking inadequate.

I guess it comes at you all ways... take that into account.

Oh no, I don't want "pity" you're too thin. Just like everyone else I want the real thing. That's the freaking problem.

I'm just saying - you were a little harsh because you don't give a rat's behind, as you stated, but I just wanted to point out that there are a lot of ways people can be triggered and you're not immune to being part of the problem. Maybe try to take that into account when you're ripping people a new one, even if they frustrate you.

And I think all my picture showed was that I was tired.