Anorexia Bracelets Reveal Secret Society (FYI)

Anorexia Bracelets Reveal Secret Society (FYI)
Fri Feb 18, 5:48 PM ET

=A0Local - WDIV ClickOnDetroit.com
They look like any bracelet you might buy at the mall. You probably
wouldn't even notice if your child started wearing one, but these are
not just any bracelet.

=A0They are a sign of membership in a disturbing world of underground
Web sites, which connect people who share a dangerous passion.

"They are encouraging people to be ill and it's like a secret cult, a
secret society. Word spreads around and people have a lingo now," said
Lynne Grege of the National Eating Disorders Association.

The lingo includes nicknames like Ana and Mia. The cute names may sound
innocent, but they aren't.

Bracelets sell for about $20 on a web site called www.bluedragonfly.org
and if you spot your child wearing one, you may have no idea what it
means.

Parents Local 4 spoke to said they thought the bracelets were just a
teenage fad, but finding out what the fad was all about shocked them.
They realized the teenagers were engaged in a practice that could be a
matter of life and death.
Local 4 discovered that the inconspicuous bracelets are actually a
secret signal for people with eating disorders and other destructive
behaviors.

Red bracelets represent anorexia, purple is for bulimia and black and
blue is for self injury, such as cutting and self mutilation.

The nickname Ana is for anorexia and Mia is for bulimics.

Eve Rosenblum, 18, owns one of the secret bracelets. The Royal Oak
teenager has struggled with anorexia since she was 12 years old. She
visits Web sites like Blue Dragon fly almost every day.

"They understand. They don't think it's like horrible and they don't
think you should get better," said Rosenblum.

The Web sites don't discourage eating disorders. Lila's Good Health
reports they encourage the behavior of people who want to keep starving
themselves.

The Blue Dragonfly Web site lists the first names and hometowns of girls
who have ordered the secret bracelets. There's Kristina from Clarkston,
Jessica from Inkster, Rachelle from Canton, and more.

Visitors post messages encouraging each other's weight loss and even
offer tips on how to purge quieter.

The Web site features pictures of emaciated women. They call it
"Thinspiration." They are pictures designed to inspire girls to lose
more weight.

Girls that Local 4 spoke to said the anorexia bracelets are more than a
secret sign of membership. They use them to motivate themselves not to
eat.

"If you're going to eat something and you see the bracelet on your arm,
you'll stop yourself and say I don't want that," said Rosenblum.

Ok, not trusting the pop media, I spent a few minutes checking out
bluedragonfly. It, at first glance, appears to be something like AA -
it wants to be a way for people with eating disorders to find
emotional support so that they can deal with their issues. Although
it was odd that the first page says "I, nor this site, are trying to
help anyone kill themselves." I are trying? I suspect a "neither" is
missing at the beginning, but it's a bad omen. Of course, I can also
believe that people can and will abuse anything to their own ends,
even a support site (witness our own regular trolls).

As for the use of blue dragonflies as mascots, I've seen them eat.
They eat anything smaller than they are, they're very efficient
hunters, and even though they're only four inches long they're one of
the meanest (in a good way) looking bugs I've seen. Imagine a four
inch long Apache attack helicopter ;-) They're also very friendly to
us humans - they stay at least a foot away at all times, unless you
hold out a finger for them to land on, which they will. Dragonflies
come in a range of colors - blue, green, orange, black, and purple
have been spotted in our yard.

In NH the seasons are broken up by more than just temperature. May is
black fly season - little black dots that swarm around you by the
thousands. Black fly season ends when the dragonflies hatch, then
it's dragonfly season :-) (but hunting season for black flies!)

We like dragonflies.

"Witchy Way" wrote in message
...

The Web site features pictures of emaciated women. They call it
"Thinspiration." They are pictures designed to inspire girls to lose
more weight.

I couldn't find the pictures. Maybe you have to be a registered member for
that.

Cubit
311/189.3/165

"Witchy Way" wrote in message
...

The Web site features pictures of emaciated women. They call it
"Thinspiration." They are pictures designed to inspire girls to lose
more weight.

I couldn't find the pictures. Maybe you have to be a registered member for
that.

Cubit
311/189.3/165

DJ Delorie wrote:
Ok, not trusting the pop media, I spent a few minutes checking out
bluedragonfly. It, at first glance, appears to be something like AA
-
it wants to be a way for people with eating disorders to find
emotional support so that they can deal with their issues.

It's not targeted at recovery, though, which AA is. The goal is to
provide a "judgment-free environment" for people with eating disorders.
Much of the discussion on the messageboards is in the vein of "I'm
starting a 10-day fast, who's with me?"

One very regular poster posted today:

"Our group has directly been outed. So has the purpose of our
bracelets. Im not going anywhere, & as soon as the heat is off, most of
the flies will return. They just dont feel comfortable with all the
flooder-flamers & lurkers on right now. Stick around, It will pass."

There's a lot of discussion on the board about a new "secret site" that
the bluedragonfly.org mods are providing the link to longstanding
members (because of the "outing", and posters are expressing
frustration with the climate:

"I've heard talk...Of cracking down on the por-ana "underground", but I
havent really seen much? Is it just talk, or are they really shutting
some people down?"

Some other posts from today that are pretty typical of the usual tenor
of discussion:

"Hey there!! I reached gw by restricting like a hawk. I am a lazy gal,
so except for house cleaning and running after the kids and a lot of ab
excersizes, I did not really exercise, though I am going to start
cardio today.

I had some days when I binged or b/p, but I continued to loose.

I hit a plateau at 112 and fought through it by upping, than lowering
my cals.

I restricted to @ 500-700 cals a day, which surprizingly I had a very
full menu."

"I just had lunch, a cup of chicken broth made with a low-sodium
boullion cube and 3 cubes of tofu, I stalk of celery.

It was good and I am hoping that I will be full for the rest of the
day.

Oh, also 3 glasses of water."


Whether or not the intention of the person who began and maintains
bluedragonfly.org is to encourage "pro-ana" (i.e., pro-anorexia)
behavior, the fact is that bluedragonfly.org message boards have been a
big place for pro-ana discussion (like threads on "how to fake a higher
weight at your doctors'" and "ways to deceive parents that you've been
eating"), and that the famous bracelets are worn by many young women,
and some young men, as a sign of pride in their active anorexia.

It's ***so**** not like AA! Imagine an AA meeting at which people
exchanged tips on, say, how to fake your way through a sobriety test,
or excitedly told everyone about an extra-cheap brand of vodka...

T.

Hi,
Punch "bluedragonfly.org" into Google and look under the "images" on
the menu to get a look at the bracelets mentioned in the article.
Those of us with daughters in this age range need to be aware of what
to look for.
As for the larger issue of pro-ana sites, it's sad, but what can you
do? If you become aware of a friend or family member who is
struggling with anorexia and/or bulimia you can try and get them help,
but in the end you can't make them get well. They have to find their
own reason to want to live.

Take care all,
Carmen

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On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 03:03:06 -0600, (Witchy Way)
wrote:

Anorexia Bracelets Reveal Secret Society (FYI)
Fri Feb 18, 5:48 PM ET

*Local - WDIV ClickOnDetroit.com
They look like any bracelet you might buy at the mall. You probably
wouldn't even notice if your child started wearing one, but these are
not just any bracelet.

*They are a sign of membership in a disturbing world of underground
Web sites, which connect people who share a dangerous passion.

"They are encouraging people to be ill and it's like a secret cult, a
secret society. Word spreads around and people have a lingo now," said
Lynne Grege of the National Eating Disorders Association.

Quoted from the site in question:
.... Tips are to give you fresh ideas on how to stay on track so that
you don't fall into a depression and kill yourself - not to teach you
how to "not eat".

.... If you are anorexic, then you do not need tips on how to not eat.
.... You can come here and try to find a bit of comfort in knowing that
you're not alone, won't be judged and no one is going to tell you to
fix yourself. You'll do that on your own when you're ready. And we
will support you in that decision as well.
.... Because that takes the most strength of all: Wanting to be normal.

It sure is easy to marginalize and distort what is said by someone
with whom we disagree ain't it?

Lee Rodgers
Lowcarb Retreat http://www.lowcarb.org
CHAT http://www.lowcarb.org/parachat.html
Low-Carb Connoisseur http://www.low-carb.com

Cubit wrote:
-but isn't their motivation and drive inspiring?

"Motivation and drive" != "mental illness"


Those of us with high BMIs could learn from them.

I have been overweight, and I have been anorexic, and overweight is
healthier.

T.

Carmen wrote:
Hi,
Punch "bluedragonfly.org" into Google and look under the "images" on
the menu to get a look at the bracelets mentioned in the article.
Those of us with daughters in this age range need to be aware of what
to look for.
As for the larger issue of pro-ana sites, it's sad, but what can you
do? If you become aware of a friend or family member who is
struggling with anorexia and/or bulimia you can try and get them
help,
but in the end you can't make them get well. They have to find their
own reason to want to live.

I agree. However, I think it's important for parents and loved ones of
people with eating disorders to be fully informed about what "pro-ana"
sites are about. To confuse them with "pro-recovery" sites isn't
likely to be helpful.

Sadly, one of the places that people with eating disorders find the
most reinforcement for their disordered behavior is from the other
inpatients in poorly run eating disorder treatment units--I base this
on my own adolescent experience, and on a number of first-person
accounts by people who have experienced anorexia, such as "Wasted" by
Marya Hornbacher and "Stick Figure" by Lori Gottlieb.

T.

Hello,
On 21-Feb-2005, lrodgers wrote:

Anorexia Bracelets Reveal Secret Society (FYI)
Fri Feb 18, 5:48 PM ET

*Local - WDIV ClickOnDetroit.com
They look like any bracelet you might buy at the mall. You probably
wouldn't even notice if your child started wearing one, but these
are
not just any bracelet.

*They are a sign of membership in a disturbing world of underground
Web sites, which connect people who share a dangerous passion.

"They are encouraging people to be ill and it's like a secret cult,
a
secret society. Word spreads around and people have a lingo now,"
said
Lynne Grege of the National Eating Disorders Association.

Quoted from the site in question:
... Tips are to give you fresh ideas on how to stay on track so that
you don't fall into a depression and kill yourself - not to teach
you
how to "not eat".

... If you are anorexic, then you do not need tips on how to not
eat.
... You can come here and try to find a bit of comfort in knowing
that
you're not alone, won't be judged and no one is going to tell you to
fix yourself. You'll do that on your own when you're ready. And we
will support you in that decision as well.
... Because that takes the most strength of all: Wanting to be
normal.

It sure is easy to marginalize and distort what is said by someone
with whom we disagree ain't it?

Yes, but my personal take is that it's a CYA thing designed to help
prevent the site owner from being sued and/or prosecuted if someone's
family traces a death back to membership in the website and techniques
learned there.

Take care,
Carmen
--
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Hotmail isn't working and is being abandoned