I don't know if one can create a disorder, but I think, just like we can poison our bodies, we can poison our minds. Certainly, certain experiences a person has can affect their mental state of being. But nobody who knows anything about what we suffer would choose to give themselves a disorder, if it were possible. Noting that I am not a psychiatrist, I would venture to say that a person that chose to give him/herself a mental disorder already has a mental disorder.

But I understand where you're coming from Rhapsody. I know enough about anorexia and bulimia to know I really don't want them, but the idea of being thin appeals to me, too. Still, I don't want to be as skinny as some of these girls get and strive to be...I want to be a healthy weight, as well as healthy in general, not dead. I'm not putting down anyone with anorexia; but the reality of it is, it's not healthy.

While I don't know all the components that go into getting a disorder, I believe, and I think evidence shows, that eating disorders are at least aggravated by images we're given when we're young, that beauty is about being thin. Eating disorders have been around for centuries, but as I understand, it's an epidemic among young girls in the past several decades, since we've become obsessed with being thin.

I am affected by these images, too. I really believe that beauty is about being healthy and strong, but I also know that my image of what beautiful is, is based on what I grew up seeing. I don't think all the models I see are beautiful, and what I call a healthy weight, some in Hollywood, at least, would say is too fat (but it's not fat at all). I need to lose weight, but I don't want to be so thin that I have to starve myself to maintain it, and be hungry all the time. I have to eat, LOL!