Trance eating, bigorexia, manorexia, chewing and spitting, and eating paper
The Tyra Banks show dealt with unusual eating disorders last week, such as trance eating, “bigorexia,” “manorexia,” chewing and spitting, and eating paper. Although these are just fancy names given to the many facets of disordered eating, the coverage attracted millions of viewers.
Tyra’s first guest was a trance eater who would binge during the night, sometimes while she was sleeping, and not be conscious of what she was doing. One morning she woke up and found empty packages all over the kitchen and evidence of someone cooking and thought someone had broken in.
Her second guest had “bigorexia,” meaning he was obsessed with getting bigger. He had 30 years of body building experience and trained so hard with the help of steroids that his arms actually exploded from the extreme size.
Next was another male, this time suffering from anorexia, which they termed “manorexia.” His target weight was 82lbs and he had been hospitalized before. He would purge up to 13 times a day after eating only an apple and water.
An anorexic young woman came on and explained her addiction to chewing and spitting. In this way, she thought she could fool her stomach into thinking she had eaten. Last summer she knew she had to get help when she was riding a roller coaster and she couldn’t handle the pain of the ride’s jolts against her thin frame.
The last guest was a young woman of 14 years old who was diagnosed with an eating disorder at the age of 7 years. She ate paper to fill her stomach sp she wouldn’t have to eat full meals and was triggered back into the behaviour by watching an episode of America’s Next Top Model.
Also on hand was Jessica Weiner, body image expert, who spoke with guests very briefly and gave them words of encouragement. It’s just too bad she didn’t get more screen time.
Tyra did a fairly good job at speaking with each guest and mirrored the ignorance that so many have about eating disorders. she was honest and straightforward about the fashion industry and her told in America’s Next Top Model, as well as her encouragement of models who were not as thin as the industry standard. It was great that she gave such attention to these issues.
What I noticed the most was how well educated each of the guests was. They knew all of the facts about their disorders and how dangerous they were. It was clear that they had all been to treatment and had been learning about eating disorders, but some still couldn’t stop their behaviour. Each at different points in their recovery, it really showed how eating disorders are not about willpower or vanity.
