#NotAesthetic: Media with Eating Disorders

Social Media is a hub of connections that allows you to share with others what is going on in your life. Most everyone is guilty of watching a juicy story time every once in a while on TikTok. As humans, we strive to connect with other people as well as share our own experiences and stories. Unfortunately, not all experiences are good ones. 

Over the years, many influencers and regular individuals have had the confidence to speak out about their experiences with eating disorders. As someone who had a tough time dealing with an eating disorder, this content makes others feel supported and can even help with recovery. I started following many body positive accounts on TikTok when I realized how important recovery was and it helped me a lot! But, there were also some communities on social media that pushed me a couple steps back in my recovery process. 

Normalization, but to What Extent?

Over the years, mental health issues have become less taboo and a more normalized topic. As I mentioned before, many individuals have had the confidence to speak out about their mental health problems in order to spread awareness. Inadvertently, these efforts have also created the romanticization of mental health issues, specifically eating disorders. There hasn’t been much research on this topic as it is such a new problem in our society, but one thing is for certain: eating disorders have become a popular and trendy topic. 

Is it because of the trendiness of a certain body type? Is it because of the trendiness of mental illness? The answers to these questions are different for everyone who romanticizes the idea of eating disorders. Recovery cannot be forced on anyone. It is a personal decision. If one does not want to become healthy in their mental and physical health that is their own choice. But, it is not okay to spread unhealthy advice and perspectives pertaining to eating disorders and body image online, because there will always be a community of people that are actively putting in the work to recover.

What to Avoid

Recovery is not an easy process. One who is aiming for an effective recovery must rewire how their brain perceives and thinks, as well as keep up with appropriate eating habits. This alone can take up to years or even decades to completely nail down, and, even then, only 46% of people that have battled with an eating disorder in their lives fully recover. Needless to say, recovery is not an easy experience. Negative perceptions displayed by others on the internet will only push others away from the potential of recovery, on top of the other thousand things that this process requires. 

Deleting social media completely is always an effective way to steer clear from nasty and romanticized opinions of eating disorders, but that is just not realistic. No one could’ve payed me $1,000 to delete social media when I was dealing with recovery, so there were others ways I avoided triggering ideas online. 

Completely, absolutely, entirely stay away from "What I Eat in a Day" videos. Many people who post these videos have good intentions, whether that is trying to educate others on how to keep themselves healthy, and some even trying to help people in active recovery in how to create their plates from meal to meal. Don’t watch. These types of videos can be very useful for a person who didn’t live with disordered eating thoughts crowding their mind. We aren’t those kind of people, and that is okay. For the time being, avoid these videos until you are confident in your recovery (which will take a long time!). Listen to your doctor, as they will give you healthy advice on how to create your plate, rather than random people online. Unfortunately, some of the people who create these types of videos are completely unhealthy. I have seen countless videos on TikTok romanticizing a bowl of egg whites and a diet soda as a lunch. There are countless accounts specifically devoted to just that; disordered eating as an aesthetic item to share with the world. The same trick goes with these types of videos; just don’t watch them. 

Skipping past a triggering video can be quite difficult sometimes, especially if the disordered thoughts are screaming in your head. There are some useful tricks you can use on social media platforms to steer away from harmful content.

TikTok: 

Many content creators use hashtags in order to increase the performance of their videos. TikTok personalizes your For You Page based off of the kinds of videos you like, which is directly correlated to the hashtags that are used in these videos. If you are seeing something that you dislike on your For You Page, you can block a hashtag, which will rid your For You Page of content using the hashtag blocked. These are the steps to take: 

1. Go to your TikTok profile

2. Tap the Menu icon in top right corner

3. Select Settings and Privacy 

4. Select Content Preferences 

5. Tap Filter Keywords

6. Tap Add Keyword

7. Enter a hashtag (or a word/phase) that you want to block

8. You can then choose if you want to block this word on your For You Page, Following Page, Friends Page, LIVE, or all. 

9. Tap Save

You can go back and add any more hashtags/words/phrases that you would like to block in the future!

There are many more features that you can use on TikTok to enhance your watching experience, ridding your pages from unwanted content, including using the “Not Interested” option and much more. Do some research if you want to learn some more useful features on TikTok!  

Instagram: 

This social media app uses the same tactics in order to get views—hashtags. And luckily, it also has features where you can block any sort of hashtag, phrase or word that you would like! These are the steps to take: 

1. Go to your profile on Instagram 

2. Tap the three lines in the top right corner

3. Select Hidden Words

4. Select Manage custom words and phrases

5. Type in any words that you want blocked from your page 

6. Tap Add

There are many others ways that you can block certain words on Instagram. Do some research if you would like to know these alternatives!

Why This is Important

I’ve been in the position where I didn’t believe outside perspectives affected my recovery, but I now realize that this is just not true. Whilst in recovery, your brain is relearning; it is rediscovering how to think. Outside thoughts will only get in the way of that and create difficulties in your recovery process. If you find yourself uncomfortable with the content on your social media pages, take the time to restrict the content you are viewing. We are in a time where social media is a standard form of communication, and it’s something that most people do not want to give up.

Use your social media platforms safely and make sure you are keeping up with your recovery! It’s only up from here!