Pro-Ana: acceptance versus promotion of EDs [15/10/2024]

Pro-ana is a term you may have heard of before: it's the promotion of anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder characterised by restriction of food, intense fear of gaining weight and body image disturbance (BID).

Whilst that may seem like an easy to understand definition of pro-ana, the reality is much more complicated -- the way the term is used differs between pro-ana groups, with some using it as not for the promotion of anorexia, but the acceptance of it, and other groups promoting anorexia as desirable, just like the definition of the term would suggest.

In this essay, I'll explain the different types of groups: pro-recovery and pro-ana, how these communities become harmful and how these groups come to be from longing for community, and will also provide my personal opinion as someone who struggles with eating.

The spectrum of "pro-ana" groups

Pro-ana has been used to describe many groups with different stances on anorexia. I think that, before going through the different usages of the term, I'll explain pro-recovery. Pro-recovery groups will promote recovering from anorexia and having healthier eating habits, whilst pro-ana can range from anything not being about recovery. To further show how wide the spectrum of pro-ana is, one side could acknowledge anorexia as a mental illness, but provide support for those who don't feel ready to recover whilst the opposite end of the spectrum could deny it as being a mental illness, say it's a "lifestyle choice" and see it as desirable. So, the former is more of a pro-acceptance, whilst the latter is what I'll refer to as "true pro-ana", as it's the purest form and exactly what the definition of pro-ana is. So, in short, the different types of anorexia support are:

1. Pro-recovery, acknowledging anorexia as a mental illness and promoting recovery.

2. Pro-ana, which doesn't promote recovery and ranges from:

A: Acknowledging anorexia as a mental illness, but providing support for those who aren't ready to recover (pro-acceptance)

B: Denying anorexia as a mental illness, and promotes it (true pro-ana)

So despite pro-acceptance and true pro-ana being vastly different, they're still pro-ana as they don't actively promote recovery.

Why is pro-ana so vast in definition?

Pro-ana is a confusing term -- it has different meanings with context of the group and even the individual with an ED. The reason for this most likely comes from the fact that it's a contrast to pro-recovery.

Pro-recovery groups post things made to inspire recovering from anorexia, talking about progress with overcoming the mental illness, etc. These groups are going to attract a certain type of person, someone recovering or about to start recovering from anorexia. But this excludes the many people suffering from anorexia who aren't recovering, which may be due to not feeling ready to recover or being in denial about having a serious mental illness. This why pro-ana would exist: a space for anyone who isn't recovering to have support and understanding.

Where pro-ana becomes dangerous

Whilst a space for people suffering from anorexia to feel understood seems fine in concept, it has a tendency to fester unhealthy and dangerous ideology, which is why it's the subject of controversy. So how does it become twisted and dangerous?

Because the range of people who don't fit into pro-recovery groups is vast, the content in pro-ana spaces is just as wide. Those who fit into pro-acceptance are most likely making vent posts about their ED, whilst someone who's in heavy denial about being mentally ill -- true pro-ana -- is more likely to make posts encouraging anorexia and heavy restriction of food and "mealspo". Because of the content encouraging the disorder, even those who know the disorder is dangerous can have their condition worsened. This is how it becomes an echo-chamber, encouraging anorexia even if unintentional.

A sense of community through pro-ana

But if those who know anorexia isn't desirable are becoming encouraged, wouldn't they just leave the site? Why do they continue to stay in a place worsening their condition? It's for one reason: community. Let's be honest: most mental illnesses seem strange and sometimes even silly to those who aren't afflicted with it. This is why so many people enjoy watching Hoarders, because the mental state is peculiar and hard to understand. This makes suffering from a mental illness alienating, and people suffering from anorexia are no exception. If an anorexic person can't be understood by someone without an eating disorder, they'll seek out other people with eating disorders to feel a sense of understanding and support. For many anorexics, pro-ana spaces are their only way to feel a sense of community and support from others, even if these spaces are making their condition worse. To ask someone already in a bad mental state to leave behind their community could be dangerous and make the suffering person feel out of control, which would most likely also worsen the disorder as anorexia is rooted in a desire to have control.

Conclusion

Pro-ana is a difficult topic, and has many nuances and grey sides. It can be incredibly harmful, as any group made up of people with mental illnesses can become, but it can also provide a sense of understanding and support for those who're already alienated.

I believe that the good, bad and grey sides should be equally acknowledged, and not have all attention directed towards to the negatives. Whilst I think these groups should be avoided due to the inevitable dangerous content which will spring up, most discussion on the groups come from a black-and-white perspective which focuses on the toxicity of the sites and ignores why people join them in the first place, making these discussions an unsympathetic view on the isolating reality of having an ED.

Pro-ana is an echo chamber of content encouraging unhealthy diets, but behind this echo chamber is a community which simply wanted to feel understood by others similar to them -- and this intent to be an understanding community, whilst never redeeming the terrible nature of these groups, shouldn't be forgotten or dismissed when talking about pro-ana.