Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The tale of self mutilation/eating disorders and other problems

Recently Demi Lovato was placed under the microscope due to an emotional breakdown and apparently she is rumoured to be seeking treatment in rehab for self mutilation and eating disorders. Demi just turned 18. Honestly, my heart goes out to the girl. I remember being a teen and having issues and dealing with them without rehab and thank God, I survived this far. I think its smart of her to go to rehab this early and not turn out to be another LiLo or Brit.

Self mutilation is not something most people talk about. And those who have the tendency to self mutilate are usually seen as ‘weirdos’ or freaks. But I think the society is too quick to judge a person based on what they do. People do things for a reason, and it doesn’t necessary mean we understand it, but that does not give us the right to judge them. Maybe she was cutting her self ( if she was, that is) to numb the emotional pain. Emotional pain is something no one else can understand. People may say, “I know how you feel”, but they wont fully understand it because they don’t FEEL it. Feeling it and thinking that you know how it feels are two different things. You will only truly understand what someone else is going through if you have been in their position before. If you haven’t, then you can only imagine it, not feel it.

I think in this country, problems like eating disorders and so on among teens aren’t being highlighted. To most of us, it is just something we read about which the people in Hollywood are doing/ going through. And to some of us, we suffer in silence to avoid judgement from those who will never understand us. For the lucky ones, we find our way out by ourselves, for the unlucky ones, we succumb to the devastating end if nothing was done to pull us out of the situation we are in.

I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

At the end of the day, having a good support system and non-judgemental people around you is the best bet to get over any problem. Not all of us are blessed with that kind of a support system, for those without it, I think being mentally strong is the only way to get out it.

You can read about Demi here.