Named your Eating Disorder yet?... Want to?

What did you/ do you want to name your eating disorder?

It's something I learned in the in-patient program at the hospital I attended. It's supposed to be the first step to seperating yourself from the eating disorder. If you can name the voice in your head as a seperate entity, then you can tell it "no."

I laughed when I first head of this, but it is actually very helpful. I named mine Ed, very predictably. Ana is another very popluar one, but some poeple go for "Bob" or, most memorably, "Darth Vader."

So next time Darth is geting uder your skin, you can say: "No. This is not me. This is not the way III feel. This is my eating disorder." It becomes easier to push away that way. One meal at a time...

Ideas, anyone?

Love the idea.

I shall call mine, Shrek.  <3 

that is where the names ana and mia came from, to create an seperate identity for the eating disorder.

i don't think it's healty to act like the disorder is a seperate entity, i think you should tackle it head on as a set of behaviours that you can choose to part with. 

I think this is a very good idea.  It helps you to see the disorder as an intrusive entity to be defeated and not as a part of yourself.  That way it doesn't seem so rational.

I call mine "The Devil" because I had a dream recently that I went to Hell and had to fight the Devil, and I concluded that the devil represented my ED, and fighting it meant gaining some weight (which I was struggling with the decision to do.)  So now if I am tempted to revert to my old habits, I just tell myself, "No.  That's not you.  That's the Devil talking.  You have to fight it."  It's a struggle, but little things like this help.

I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of "naming" my ED. I feel like that would give it more power than it already has, acknowledging that it has a life of its own. I know that the feelings, behaviors, and everything else that comes with an ED seem to take on their own entity in the level of control we lose to them, but I just don't know if I feel comfortable formally acknowledging that with a name. Besides, if it has a name, in order to get rid of the ED I would have to "kill" a "person" which might actually make it difficult for me to do so. I know, I know, I'm reading too much into it. Oh well :P

I too don't agree to this idea of naming your ED.

I have heard before that once you name something like an animal, pet, or baby you get THAT much more attached to it, because now it has an identity, and the knowing that YOU have chosen it's name. Making you feel as if you have a deeper and stronger connection with that object, person, etc.

so why would you want to be deeply connected to a personality flaw like an ED? if anything it seems to be a step backwards... warning signs go up when someone refers to their ED as their "friend", or calls theirselves "ana" or "rexy" or "mia" in an almost innocent "cutesy" way on such Pro-Ana websites for example.

I'm sorry but I am not convinced that this is a good idea... I do agree to the part about separating your ED from your real thoughts, but naming it? come on. This ultimately makes someone seem even more "insane" than having an ED already does.

and is this coming from someone WITH an ED... (aka me)

if you name it, it's always there as a seperate entity. if you change your behaviours then they will correct and eliminate themselves over time.

Original Post by joanne811:

if you name it, it's always there as a seperate entity. if you change your behaviours then they will correct and eliminate themselves over time.

but it really does feel like a different personality, ana/mia is not me its something else, I have no control.

Well, just because it FEELS like a separate entity, that doesn't mean you can't control it.  Tell yourself you are STRONG and you CAN beat it, even if it sounds like a voice from outside of you.  If you tell yourself you can't, you never will.

I named mine a while back - I call it my demon. I did this during a counseling session, so that I could better identify a difference between the rational side of me, and my irrational disorder - which spends most of its time "attacking" me. My rational side is my "reality" and my disorder is my "demon". But at the same time, it may feed my denial, because I seperate my demon from me - thus helping me avoid the fact that it is me that has the problem... (does that make sense?)

I think that this is one of those subjects that can be very personal to many ed recoverees...I believe that you are trying to go about things the right way when introducing a new idea that you practiced at treatment to others, however, many girls and guys will take this the wrong way and should not be focusing on naming their ed but rather getting rid of it...I hope that this makes sense and that you understand I am only here for your help and to make sure that posting on this site is beneficial to recovery. PM me if you need too!

this reminds me of the book monkey taming. The girl in the book calls her's Monkey.

I actually get quite offended when people say 'Ana' or 'Mia'... but that's probably only cos my actual name is Mia...

Can you relate to your eating disorder that you think it's not healthy to seperate it from your self? How good is it to you? From what i've seen of it, it talks you down ,it brings you down, it also kills you. is that you?

The illness IS a seperate entity... it's in you but it's not you.

... and the first step is just that: realizing it's not you.

If you think it's you, how can you fight against yourself?

Life is worth living without a voice talking you down all the time. It's possible to push it away and get rid of that voice.

Give it a try.

If you "named" your ED or "seperated" it from you - it only gives you an excuse for all the times you let "it" win.
Like if you decided not to have your meal plan one day, you could just use "it" as an excuse. Instead of saying "I never had my meal today.." you can use the excuse of "Ana, or Mia or Bob.. or, Darth LOL.. didn't 'let' me have my meal today.." And I think thats beating around the bush abit, dun cha think? I find with my ED I have to make excuses for myself/the ED saying things like "Oh, I couldnt have anything today mum - my anorexia took over.." when really, I just never ate for the obvious ED reasons, out of fear. But by blaming anorexia/bulemia etc.. you're making it OKAY to starve or purge. And the more you blame your habbits on "something else", the less its your fault, so the more you will find yourself doing it..

Do the words "Wasn't me.." spring to mind
Its always an easy exit blaming things on something else,
and IMO, thats the quitters way out. But hey! We all have our own strategies

My eating disorder already has a name: ANOREXIA NERVOSA.

... why call it anything else?

Original Post by twiggy_1960:

If you "named" your ED or "seperated" it from you - it only gives you an excuse for all the times you let "it" win.
Like if you decided not to have your meal plan one day, you could just use "it" as an excuse. Instead of saying "I never had my meal today.." you can use the excuse of "Ana, or Mia or Bob.. or, Darth LOL.. didn't 'let' me have my meal today.." And I think thats beating around the bush abit, dun cha think? I find with my ED I have to make excuses for myself/the ED saying things like "Oh, I couldnt have anything today mum - my anorexia took over.." when really, I just never ate for the obvious ED reasons, out of fear. But by blaming anorexia/bulemia etc.. you're making it OKAY to starve or purge. And the more you blame your habbits on "something else", the less its your fault, so the more you will find yourself doing it..

Do the words "Wasn't me.." spring to mind
Its always an easy exit blaming things on something else,
and IMO, thats the quitters way out. But hey! We all have our own strategies

 

Well... first step is to recognize you have a disorder and seperate it from yourself. Making excuses for yourself is just that. Next you DON'T make excuses and you tell yourself you shouldn't, and don't listen to 'it', just get your meal. Easier said than done, I agree. yet if you can't tell when it's the illness talking, you can't fight it.

I understand what you're saying, and it could work well for some people which is really great! But, I find that if I blame my ED, then it only makes it okay because it wasn't really me then was it.. it wasn't my fault, so in my eyes that makes it alright. (Eventhough it's not lol!)

At the end of the day, Anorexia is complicated. To be fair - yes, 'it' does affect your thoughts, but they are still youres really.. Its not like youre sharing your body? Because everything that led to your Ed was done by personal choice. The first step that created the ED wasnt made by somebody else. Something that happened to YOU created the ED. Nobody planted a chip. I believe that people should take the blame and learn by thier own mistakes, so that they cant be made again. Instead of trying to avoid the situation and saying "something else made me do it.."

 

But as I said before, its all just down to opinion. And to be honest I sound really harsh with my comments.. im a big softie really!

Mines called Daisy; it is suspected that "she" is a Psychosis. :/

I hate the Ana/Mia crap; &it's quicker to write AN/BN instead of Ana/Mia tbh.

xoxoxox

Interesting thread topic. I've never named mine, but at the treatment center I went to, the emphasis was very much on separating one's self-identity from one's identity within the eating disorder. I adhered pretty strongly to the whole idea of "This eating disorder isn't me" until a friend brought to my attention that I was using it as an excuse not to take responsibility for my behavior, as was brought up in this thread.

I have lately been thinking of it as a demon, just an evil voice in my head trying to draw me away from God's will (I'm a pretty religious person), and so far it's been working for me as a way of accepting responsibility for my actions and behaviors ("Yes, I have sin in my life") but at the same time realizing it is something that I can beat through my spiritual well-being and spiritual walk.

Original Post by joanne811:

that is where the names ana and mia came from, to create an seperate identity for the eating disorder.

i don't think it's healty to act like the disorder is a seperate entity, i think you should tackle it head on as a set of behaviours that you can choose to part with. 

 

 

 Many therapists advocate this kind of thing because so many people with eating disorders start seeing themselves as nothing but an eating disorder, not a person with dimensions and other qualities. By naming it you are essentially saying 'Delaney deserves to be healthy and eat this food, and she doesn't have to listen to this horrible Ed who is trying to make her sick and lonely.' It can actually give the person a lot of power because they choose to take care of themselves when 'Ed' wants them to fall back into the sickness.

I call mine "A pain in the a**." :P