On Entertainment Tonight: Newswoman starves self

[ikojo]

I was watching Entertainment Tonight and there was a blurb about Tom Cruise (oh what a hottie) sending his wishes for recovery to a newswoman named Melissa DeHart starved herself because she thought she was too fat.

What is wrong with a culture where women, and in increasing numbers, men feel the need to deny themselves food?

They showed this woman on TV and she literally looked like an Auschwitz survivor. I had to turn my head away from the television. I cannot imagine that she thinks she looks good being so thin.

If she survives her treatment I hope she lives to tell others of her nightmare to keep others from doing the same thing.

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. its really disrespectful

To starve yourself when you live in the most plentiful country in the world. Especially when so many are starving elsewhere.

[prolesunited]

2. Disrespectful to who?

:shrug:

[hlthe2b]

5. I think you misunderstand that anorexia/bullimia is

a very serious psychological disorder. Not wanton disrespect or willful action...

[THUNDER HANDS]

7. yes it is a very serious disorder

It's not intentionally disrespectful. But it does show an utter lack of empathy for truely starving people around the world. Even if this poor woman was never thinking of anyone else but herself.

[bleedingheart]

3. I just went to the web to see her picture and she does look

very ill.

I think this is a mixture of mental illness and culture. I am exposed to the same media onslaught and I have not let it affect me to that degree.

[hlthe2b]

10. I did crash diet as a teen, but

it got to the point I was too weak/dizzy to do anything but sit around thinking about my next meager meal. My folks convinced me that this was ridiculous, fortunately.

[hlthe2b]

4. They have been doing (overdoing) a series on this woman

for a couple of weeks now. Don't misunderstand me. I consider it courageous that she is bringing her story to light, but there is something rather exploitative the way ET is doing it in my mind.

Heaven knows it is a disturbing story. Her family has basically given up on her, which sounds horrible... But after seeing quite a bit of her interviews, I have a feeling that she has made it extremely difficult to be there for her. I suspect at some point her family realized that they were enabling her ongoing behavior and may have stepped away as a result. She is definitely a paradox as you listen to her and I do hope she makes it. I'm not at all sure that she wants to. I have a troubling suspicion that the attention is all she wants, not to recover. Just my thoughts, having seen quite a bit of this very perplexing story. I hope I'm wrong....

[harper]

6. Agreed

I watched a segment on her and felt that the show was validating this women's view of herself as the best anorexic in the world. But, she is obviously very sick mentally. She said she had been through various eating disorder programs with no success. What a strange world we live in when people starve themself while surrounded with plenty.

[ikojo]

8. I rarely watch ET so this was the first

I have heard of this woman. I wish when the media covered these types of stories they went a bit deeper and also discussed the pressures on women to be forever young and forever thin.

[Bronco69]

9. Maybe someone should tell

Maria Shriver about her story. Maria looks like a skeleton too.