Althouse: "The unknown can be very anxiety provoking, You don't know what will be served. You don't know who you will sit next to."

November 21, 2007

"The unknown can be very anxiety provoking, You don't know what will be served. You don't know who you will sit next to."

That's a quote from the front-page article in the Wisconsin State Journal: "Thanksgiving a difficult time for people with eating disorders."

Okay, react away.

You might say anything from: That woman should shut up and volunteer in a soup kitchen to That's the way I feel about Thanksgiving and I don't even have an eating disorder.

17 comments:

Ron said...: People who fear loud noises should not be going deer hunting about now, and if you've got an eating disorder during any of our National Eating Days, go take a nap!; 11/21/07, 5:17 PM
rhhardin said...: Avoid family gatherings of any kind.; 11/21/07, 5:32 PM
Kirby Olson said...: It's especially hard on turkeys. Gobble gobble.; 11/21/07, 6:12 PM
dualdiagnosis said...: It sounds silly, but anxiety can be debilitating whether you have an eating disorder or not.; 11/21/07, 6:20 PM
Trooper York said...: Squanto. It doesn't mean anything, I just like saying it at Thanksgiving time. (Yes I know who he was, just kidding Capt. Literal).; 11/21/07, 6:38 PM
Pastafarian said...: The lady pictured has an eating disorder? Judging by the image she's not trying very hard.; 11/21/07, 6:39 PM
Pastafarian said...: That was mean. I'm sorry.; 11/21/07, 6:40 PM
rhhardin said...: Speaking of eating disorders, today at Kroger a 5' 3" woman was poking at the high shelf of Pringles with a lower shelf can of Pringles, trying to get one of the good ones down.

She couldn't do what I do for the top shelf, when it's empty to the back, namely stand on the bottom shelf, because she weighed 300 lb.

So there's one disadvantage of an eating disorder right away. You can't get to the good potato chips.

Unfortunately my camera was at home.; 11/21/07, 6:49 PM
Neville said...: Volunteering (in a soup kitchen) sounds like placing focus on giving rather than feeding (no pun intended) the anxiety. I love the scene in "A Beautiful Mind" when the still hallucinating yet employed mathematician (Russell Crowe) says he deliberately ignores the hallucinations and does not talk to them; consequently they don't bother him as much.; 11/21/07, 6:58 PM
Ron said...: Yes, I've tried that ignoring thing too...but they still keep coming here to comment!; 11/21/07, 7:19 PM
TMink said...: Folks with bulimia are of average weight.

Anxiety is indeed a pain, but facing the anxiety reduces it.

The lady in question should just talk about her struggle and have a single plate of food then go talk to someone else at the gathering, away from the table. If it gets bad, she can leave.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Trey; 11/21/07, 8:16 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 11/21/07, 9:52 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Folks with bulimia are of average weight.

Now that's a ripoff, isn't it? All that work and unpleasantry. Why bother?; 11/22/07, 8:12 AM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: Freeman Hunt: Why bother? So you can have electrolyte imbalances and acid-weakened teeth.; 11/22/07, 12:01 PM
PeterP said...: "Thanksgiving a difficult time for people with eating disorders."

Take the first word and beat the whining jerks who whinge on about the last two over the head, hard.

Whack 'em often, like in Pulp Fiction. 'Til they bleed from the nose if that's what's needed.

The clue is in the word after all.; 11/22/07, 3:53 PM
MadisonMan said...: low-fat butter

Also known as butter mixed with air, I'm guessing.; 11/22/07, 7:30 PM
Sarah said...: I thought this was a terrible article -- voyeuristic almost. There's no way to capture the complexities swirling around eating disorders in a few words.

As several ignorant commenters have demonstrated here.; 11/23/07, 12:57 PM