A letter from Ana..
Allow me to introduce myself. My name, or as I am called by so called "doctors",
is Anorexia. Anorexia Nervosa is my full name, but you may call me Anna. Hopefully we can become great partners. In the coming
time, I will invest a lot of time in you, and I expect the same from you.
In the past you have heard all of your teachers and
parents talk about you. You are "so mature", "intelligent", "14 going on 45", and you possess "so much potential". Where has
that gotten you, may I ask? Absolutely no where! You are not perfect, you do not try hard enough, further more you waste your
time on thinking and talking with friends and drawing! Such acts of indulgence shall not be allowed in the future.
Your friends do not understand you. They are not truthful.
In the past, when the insecurity has quietly gnawed away at your mind, and you asked them, "Do I look....fat?" and they answered
"Oh no, of course not" you knew they were lying! Only I tell the truth. Your parents, let's not even go there! You know that
they love you, and care for you, but part of that is just that they are your parents and are obligated to do so. I shall tell
you a secret now: deep down inside themselves, they are disappointed with you. Their daughter, the one with so much potential,
has turned into a fat, lazy, and undeserving girl.
But I am about to change all that.
I expect a lot from you. You are not allowed to eat
much. It will start slowly: decreasing of fat intake, reading the nutrition labels, cutting out junk food, fried food, etc.
For a while, the exercise will be simple: some running, perhaps some crunches and some situps. Nothing too serious. Perhaps
drop a few pounds, take a little off of that fat tub of a stomach. But it won't be long before I tell you that it isn't good
enough.
I will expect you to drop your calorie intake and up
your exercise. I will push you to the limit. You must take it because you cannot defy me! I am beginning to imbed myself into
you. Pretty soon, I am with you always. I am there when you wake up in the morning and run to the scale. The numbers become
both friend and enemy, and the frenzied thoughts pray for them to be lower than yesterday, last night, etc. You look into
the mirror with dismay. You prod and poke at the fat that is there, and smile when you come across bone. I am there when you
figure out the plan for the day: 400 calories, 2 hours exercise. I am the one figuring this out, because by now my thoughts
and your thoughts are blurred together as one.
I follow you throughout the day. In school, when your
mind wanders I give you something to think about. Recount the calories for the day. It's too much. I fill your mind with thoughts
of food, weight, calories, and things that are safe to think about. Because now, I am already inside of you. I am in your
head, your heart, and your soul. The hunger pains you pretend not to feel is me, inside of you.
Pretty soon I am telling you not only what to do with
food, but what to do ALL of the time. Smile and nod. Present yourself well. Suck in that fat stomach, dammit! God, you are
such a fat cow!!!! When mealtimes come around I tell you what to do. I make a plate of lettuce seem like a feast fit for a
king. Push the food around. Make it look like you've eaten something. No piece of anything...if you eat, all the control will
be broken...do you WANT that?? To revert back to the fat COW you once were?? I force you to stare at magazine models. Those
perfect skinned, white teethed, waifish models of perfection staring out at you from those glossy pages. I make you realize
that you could never be them. You will always be fat and never will you be as beautiful as they are. When you look in the
mirror, I will distort the image. I will show you obesity and hideousness. I will show you a sumo wrestler where in reality
there is a starving child. But you must not know this, because if you knew the truth, you might start to eat again and our
relationship would come crashing down.
Sometimes you will rebel. Hopefully not often though.
You will recognize the small rebellious fiber left in your body and will venture down to the dark kitchen. The cupboard door
will slowly open, creaking softly. Your eyes will move over the food that I have kept at a safe distance from you. You will
find your hands reaching out, lethargically, like a nightmare, through the darkness to the box of crackers. You shove them
in, mechanically, not really tasting but simply relishing in the fact that you are going against me. You reach for another
box, then another, then another. Your stomach will become bloated and grotesque, but you will not stop yet. And all the time
I am screaming at you to stop, you fat cow, you really have no self control, you are going to get fat.
When it is over you will cling to me again, ask me for
advice because you really do not want to get fat. You broke a cardinal rule and ate, and now you want me back. I'll force
you into the bathroom, onto your knees, staring into the void of the toilet bowl. Your fingers will be inserted into your
throat, and, not without a great deal of pain, your food binge will come up. Over and over this is to be repeated, until you
spit up blood and water and you know it is all gone. When you stand up, you will feel dizzy. Don't pass out. Stand up right
now. You fat cow you deserve to be in pain!
Maybe the choice of getting rid of the guilt is different.
Maybe I chose to make you take laxatives, where you sit on the toilet until the wee hours of the morning, feeling your insides
cringe. Or perhaps I just make you hurt yourself, bang your head into the wall until you receive a throbbing headache. Cutting
is also effective. I want you to see your blood, to see it fall down your arm, and in that split second you will realize you
deserve whatever pain I give you. You are depressed, obsessed, in pain, hurting, reaching out but no one will listen? Who
cares?!?!! You are deserving; you brought this upon yourself.
Oh, is this harsh? Do you not want this to happen to
you? Am I unfair? I do do things that will help you. I make it possible for you to stop thinking of emotions that cause you
stress. Thoughts of anger, sadness, desperation, and lonliness can cease because I take them away and fill your head with
the methodic calorie counting. I take away your struggle to fit in with kids your age, the struggle of trying to please everyone
as well. Because now, I am your only friend, and I am the only one you need to please.
I have a weak spot. But we must not tell anyone. If
you decide to fight back, to reach out to someone and tell them about how I make you live, all hell will break lose. No one
must find out, no one can crack this shell that I have covered you with. I have createdyou, this thin, perfect, achieving
child. You are mine and mine alone. Without me, you are nothing. So do not fight back. When others comment, ignore them. Take
it into stride, forget about them, forget about everyone that tries to take me away. I am your greatest asset, and I intend
to keep it that way.
Sincerely, Ana
A letter to Ana..
Dear Ana,
I offer you my soul, my heart and my bodily functions.
I give you all my earthly possessions.
I seek your wisdom, your faith and your feather weight.
I pledge to obtain the ability to float, to lower my weight to the single digits, I pledge to stare into space, to fear food,
and to see obese images in the mirror. I will worship you and pledge to be a faithful servant until death does us part.
If I cheat on you and procreate with Ronald McDonald,
Dave Thomas, the colonel or that cute little dog. I will kneel over my toilet and thrust my fingers deep in my throat and
pray for your forgiveness.
Please Ana, don't give up on me. I'm so weak, I know,
but only you with your strength inside me will I become a woman worthy of love and respect. I'm begging for you not to give
up, I'm pleading with my shallow breathes and my pale skin. I bleed for you, suffer leg pains, headaches and fainting spells.
My love for you makes me dizzy and confused I don't know whether I'm coming or going. Men run when they see the love I have
for you and never return. But they aren't important to me all thats important is that you love me.
If you stay with me, I will worship you daily, I will
run miles a day, come rain, snow, bitter cold or searing heat I will run from the pain and in fright. I will do 1,000 sit
ups a day and lie to my family about what I eat and how I feel. I will stop weeping when I feel your warm arms embrace my
shivering body. I will numb the hunger pains with razor blades and your strength.
Today, I renew our friendship and resolve to be faithful
to you year long, life long. I begin each year with a 3 day fast in honor of you. If you give me the strength to fade away
I will love you and worship you forever.
When I'm finally faded to nothing, when you've given
me the gift of ending this torturous life. I will float on to the next world and be thin and beautiful payment for my undying
love for you in this world.
I ask only one more thing you, please Ana, remove me
from this hell, from this world ASAP. Please take away this hatred for my pain and allow me to be free and light.
Love Always, Worthless One