How do people starve themselves so thoroughly without, well, doing themselves real harm? If I don't eat for 8 hours my mind stops working and I become depressed and anxious; how the fuck do people do this? I think I understand the 'why'.
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in a bit of a rush, but to show how personal these things are, i'd like to give a completely opposite reason to n3os (totally valid) reason why some people are able to starve themselves like this.
in situations of immense stress, your appetite is effected, as n3o said. mine can disappear completely. as soon as i'm stressed i'm not hungry. depending on the level of stress, my brain can make it almost impossible to eat. food makes me feel sick. i can make myself feel full by thinking of eating. its the pain of eating that stops me.
so, my question would be the converse. how can you eat when you feel full? i've still not 100% worked it out.
obviously after a short while the starvation effects your brain, releases endorphins etc etc and you have forgotten how to eat normally, can't believe you need to eat more than the measly amount you do, and in my case start to focus on my weight and body because its so confusing. i don't feel hungry so i have to lose weight to prove to myself i'm not going insane by thinking i'm starving, but to lose weight i have to starve myself even more, because in my head i'm eating enough......
and it does cause great harm a psychological distress. by the time i was admitted to hospital i was frequently blacking out, fecally incontinent, had skin so dry it was almost scaly, all of my bones creaked painfully each time i moved. and i had a high bmi for an anorexic admitted to IP. and i loved each of those symptoms because they proved my disorder, they proved i wasn't insane. otherwise, though, i was completely numb. my legs gave out at the top of a massive stone staircase with a new fracture and i didn't feel a thing. the numbness is emotional too, not always, but often. nothing unrelated to your disorder can upset you anymore. you are safe. safe but dying.
when i get home i'll post a pic i took of the supplements and general meds i was scripted at the time. its quite scary given the majority of it is for one pharmacy visit.