It is
human nature to judge. I openly admit that one of my favourite things to do is
sit and ‘people watch’. I love to look at what people are wearing, their hair,
their shoes, their smiles and frowns, gestures and mannerisms and their
physique. Everyone does it; we all judge…
This got me to thinking about the judgement associated with weight. I believe
that obesity and anorexia have lines from the same illness, and lye at opposite
ends of the spectrum; one cannot restrain from food, and the other restrains
completely. Both have an obsession with food and spend most of their
day thinking of food and how it impacts on ones emotions.
I
have found that society has a great deal of empathy for those suffering from
anorexia - people are overwhelmed with sadness can see that there is generally
an emotional problem such as depression attached with the illness. People that
are obese on the other hand, are not looked at with the same level of sympathy,
rather, they are looked at in disgust – how could someone let themself get so
fat? I experienced the judgement first hand.
Neither
is healthy, however I personally feel the same level of sadness for the
severely underweight as I do for the severely overweight. Nobody chooses to be
anorexic or obese, it develops over time, the addiction takes hold and people
lose control and perspective of the severity of the situation.
Obesity
and eating disorders are such taboo subjects. Australia is suffering from an
obesity epidemic with one of the largest obesity rates in the world, yet we
don’t talk about it openly! Why? Is it because we are ashamed? Is it because it
is too hard?
For
many years, my weight, and my own addictions with food were a no go subject. I
refused to discuss my problems and would get aggressive and upset if anyone
brought the topic up.
Now,
I openly talk about my addictions in an attempt to de-sensitise the topic. The
more I talk about it, the more comfortable I feel talking about it.
It
baffles me that there are not more programs and support networks readily
available to attempt to tackle food addictions.
I
would love to see a world where there these issues were no longer considered
taboo, and support and understanding was readily available…
