What The Voice Of An Eating Disorder Sounds Like Explained By Mean Girls

How a recovering anorexic perceives the voice of her eating disorder through the interpretation of the she devil herself, Regina George.

Having an eating disorder is like having Regina George as your best friend. She is cruel and bitchy, and unforgivingly harsh and relentless with her critique; she forces the idea that you must fit this mold of perfection to be considered good enough, and you wonder why the fuck you put up with her? The truth being, she created you. She gave you an identity, made you what you are; she pounded you into that mold, making you the image you always believed to be.

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Seems crazy right? Let’s take this step by step.

This is you: entering society a naive little fragment, unknown of the depths you will encounter

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You find a way of consolement to ease you into the mysterious world, being your guide.

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Aka your normal eating habits

You are then introduced to the beloved, the beauty, the aspiration of anyone’s dream How do you get there? Regina George

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Regina represents the gateway to popularity. Similarly interpreted as how some individuals find eating disorders as mechanisms to being 'perfect'.

You begin adopting her habits, enabling her pristine voice to manipulate you into her ways

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Habits as in tactics developed when one begins showing signs of anorexia/ bulimia: skipping meals, calorie restricting, etc.

She takes you under her wing, making you her own, and you immediately feel wanted, satisfied, and a lust for more.

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When the first noticeable signs of weight loss occur. One is instilled with a sense of relief, knowing their newly found habits are effective; however, this only enforces the upkeep of these unhealthy behaviors.

She deceives you, mocking you with the idea that you are not yet at her level, that you must attain a higher level to meet her expectations

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Eating disorders cause your metabolism to slow, and your body goes into starvation mode, causing it to turn any ounce of nourishment into fat, enabling weight gain to occur more easily. This fluctuation in weight is discouraging, and can cause an eating disorder sufferer to go to even further extremes to maximize their weight loss.

A drive is instilled with you, forcing yourself to push your limits, making you reach extremes in order to achieve her status.

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Like Cady, manipulation is one of the key tactics displayed. Lying and deception are common signs sufferers do in order to reach their ultimate goal.

Days and weeks go by, and you begin to lose sight of your former self.

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You get trapped in a cycle of your habits, and soon you forget who you were or what your routine consisted of prior to ED.

But none of that matters because you are finally meeting eye to eye with the demon that created you

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Despite the concerns loved ones have for you, or the negative health consequences, all that matters is that you are losing weight. The mind of an eating disorder sufferer obsesses over their weight and how thin they are becoming, which leads them to ignore the danger they are putting themselves in.

Will it ever be enough?

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There is no ultimate goal. No one has an eating disorder and then suddenly stops it once they reach their ideal weight or body image. There is always a need to be thinner because enough will never be enough.

There are two outcomes to this tale

One: Having your ED overtake your being, killing off any strand of your former self

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You just isolate yourself; being forever alone with this disorder, and having in define who you are. You are no longer a person, but you become your eating disorder.

Two: Acknowledging that you need help, and seeking recovery

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No one can force you to get help. The only way to get better is if you make the first step in acknowledging that your current habits are unhealthy, and must be changed.

Overcoming an eating disorder is not an easy task, and it obviously takes more than breaking a plastic crown to realize there is more to yourself than being thin. This is not meant to be a comedic representation of eating disorders, but to show how one who suffers from an eating disorder personifies their illness into a toxic person who they can still consider a friend. Recovery is focused towards realizing you do not need that person in your life, and enlightening yourself with the fact that you are beautiful, unique, and amazing just as you are. Do not let any one, thing, or voice dictate how you live your life; the vitality of being imperfect is ‘grool’.

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