Portfolio of Hope

‘My pro ana’ is the leading Pro Ana forum and community to discuss diets, thinspiration, results and find pro ana support groups.
On Google the page is promoted for ‘thinspiration’, but on their website it is promoted as supporting people with eating disorders. It can’t be both. The fact that it contradicts itself like this on its homepage before even delving into the actual content shows how the website CANNOT be trusted.
The supposedly ‘supportive community’ encompasses a wide range of members either in ‘recovery’, suffering or looking for general weight loss tips. Again, this is a massive contradiction. How can a website be for people in recovery from eating disorders and people looking for weight loss tips? It can’t. People in recovery should stay away from sites like My pro ana at ALL costs.
The founder of MPA explains that ‘nobody wants you to get worse. It is a place for people who suffer, not a place for those wanting to come here to “get an eating disorder”. What a surprise.. Another contradiction.. The website is filled with tips to keep people trapped in the viscious circle of their ED. They are making people worse just by having this website in existance.
Some of the forums on this supposedly ‘supportive’ website:
‘Comment your weight today. No excuses, just the number.’
‘Your dream BMI.’
‘What food are you ashamed you ate today?’
‘Forbidden food you miss.’
‘Ice cube diet.’
Do they sound like ‘recovery inspired’ topics to you?.. I thought not.
Now for some examples of members names (just a few users online in the past 15 minutes):
TheHumanStick
skinnyb*****sworld
Skinnycat42
Fadedbones
RelpasED
calorieskilledtheteenager
Jadejustwantstobeskinnynow
thintowin1980
Kindawannadie
The members on this site are clearly NOT in a recovery mindset, evident by their choice of usernames..
Raffles are hosted on the website, with prizes commonly being ‘proana bracelets’, designed to be worn as a reminder of ‘staying true to your diet’, and also to ‘meet other Ana’s.’ So if you were expecting some motivational merch, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.
Lynn Grefe, CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association sums my view on My Pro Ana and the ‘proana bracelets’ up perfectly, saying- “Is someone making pro-cancer or pro-heart disease necklaces? Replace the word ‘ana’ with ‘cancer’ and you realize how absurd and how sick this is, to be encouraging people to stay sick. I find it unforgivable.”