Wedding Weight Loss, Eating Disorders, Self Harm, and Those Who Encourage It

A couple of weeks ago, the New York Times posted an article about brides going to extremes to lose weight before their weddings. One doctor charges healthy women $1500 to insert a  feeding tubes in their noses for ten days so that they can   receive nutrition while they starve themselves to knock off a few pounds in time for the big day. How is it that it has become socially acceptable for a doctor to support self mutilation and eating disorder?

Of course we want to look pretty on our wedding days. But at the expense of our health? Are we willing to pay someone to monitor and encourage our eating disorder? Sadly  I can’t say that I’m particularly surprised by this.  People have been profiting off of other people’s desperation since the beginning of time.  But a doctor? This is what’s so outrageous here. What has happened to our ethical standards?  As a medical professional, how is it that this person not only supports, but encourages these self harming behaviors?  Is this doctor blatantly ignoring the Hippocratic Oath because doing so is lucrative?

There’s a lesson here about being discriminating and understanding that just because a doctor (or any professional) is willing to support the disordered part of you, doesn’t mean that it’s okay.   There will always be someone who exists who will exploit the parts of you that will exploit you, which is why you need to engage (often) with your wise mind, the part of you that knows right from wrong, the part of you that knows the best way to care for yourself.

So, that’s the bad news. But not everyone is trying to profit off of your dark side.  Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest have all banned self harm sites.  Way to go.

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