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Would you consider weight loss surgery to be a doctor approved form of anorexia nervosa?

I have had several friends who have had the procedure done, and I don't understand what the difference. They don't eat as much as they did, and they take vitamins, so really, what is the difference between the 2? I really don't want this to seem disrespectful. Like I said I have had friends who have had the surgery. I am just trying to figure it out. Thank you Abby, I should have clarified some things. I think Anorexia Nervosa is the wrong term. I should have said an eating disorder. I do know what anorexia is. I have suffered from it, and now I see my friends eating the same, if not less than I was eating. Why is this ok?

Public Comments

1. No, anorexia is a disease of the mind where the person quits eating or vomits when they do. they think they are fat when they are deathly thin and the disease can kill you.anorexia is a disease not a weight loss method. jack has it right, they no longer eat as much because they can't because of the surgery. If they are eating healthy and not becoming underweight , but they are losing to be healthy not because they have a distorted body image. Anorexic are not over weight to begin with they are thin and think they are fat
2. There is a difference, you do not think you're fat. They starved themselves because they thought they were fat, so don't worry. You'll be ok! :)
3. They're not as fat any more, so they don't have to eat as much. For the sake of crazy gender feminists, I hope you're right. Since not as many women suffer from anorexia as we were led to believe, it would be a good way to beef up (pun intended) the numbers to keep the "crisis" alive. Love Jack
4. Anorexia nervosa is a mental disorder. It's prominent in young women who have a strong fear of becoming obese or have a very distorted body image. There have been different reasons behind it (like these people thinking the skinnier they are, the less they'll be noticed and that it's a form of suicide etc etc) but that's not really the point. People who have weight loss surgery are generally people that have health concerns linked to their weight. If you weigh 400 pounds and have one of these procedures, you aren't anorectic, you just need to shed the weight to carry on a "normal" lifestyle. Also people having the surgery aren't starving themselves, they just aren't able to eat as much because their stomach won't hold the food. I'm not saying that there may not be emotional reasons that these surgeries are taking place, but it's not the same as the 15 year old not eating for a week because she could pinch the skin on her stomach. Now if the people having the surgery are, say, 150 pounds and actually found a doctor to perform it I'd say that may very well be a sign that the person has developed anorexia nervosa or some other similar disorder. Generally, there are two over simplified ways of thinking about it, in my point of view. Anorectics want to be skinny, the skinnier the better. People having gastric bypasses or other procedures done want to be healthy.
5. An eating disorder such as Anorexia Nervosa is a mental illness, where the sufferer has a fear of becoming fat and food is limited as a means of control. Having weight loss surgery and the results of not being able to eat full meals is a physical problem, not a mental one. That is not to say that Anorexics can't have physical difficulties with eating as the illness progresses, but it is initially a mental problem, where they choose not to eat due to fear of gaining weight. The only similarities between the two are the rapid weight loss and limited food intake, but as Anorexia Nervosa is a mental illness due to a chemical imbalance in the brain causing obsessive compulsive type behaviour and body image disorders, the two cannot be compared on the same level. HTH.