Skins, drawing the reality: Cassie and the eating disorders.

As you all may know, I write in the Spanish blog of the Skins' series, and yesterday I wrote a very interesting article about the eating disorders. As a psychologist and as a human. What do you think about it? Let me know, please!

Without doubt, eating disorders are every day more common in our society, not only the best known, such as anorexia or bulimia but some new concepts with slowly advancing that coexist with us, often without realizing it: orthorexia, bigorexia, binge eating disorders and obesity ...

In the first generation of Skins, we find a character who has a type of eating disorder, anorexia. As you all know, I'm talking about Cassie, the nymph in a sea of doubts ... but is it really seriously addressed this character and veracity ...?

The answer, happily, is yes.

The first thing that caught my attention when I began to see Skins, was the character of Cassie. As a psychologist interested in the topic of eating disorders, I decided to observe the treatment of the character closely. For years I have reported widely on these topics, and I had the opportunity to know (first hand) evidence of boys and girls with this type of disorders, among other things. That is why, every time I see some mention on television or film, or in a (dreaded) number of teenagers, I tremble, because the writers of the series tend to be influenced by too many myths that give more to morbid information than truth.

But in the case of Skins did not, and the living expression of this is Cassie, a girl terrorized by the world, penned under the belief that if you gain weight, something bad can happen. Undoubtedly, Cassie's fears are many, and around her happens a number of problems that are likely to be those who have developed the disease, which in many other series have forgotten; such series typically focus only on the Purging fact of the disease, as well as highlight the lack of food intake ... but, is that anorexia only, not eating?

Undoubtedly the most striking factor in anorexia is the loss of weight and lack of food intake (or binge eating, followed by purging either by vomiting or laxatives); but are not the only factors that occur in a case of anorexia or any eating disorder. The fear of gaining weight or perceptual disturbance to one's body come hand in hand with feelings of guilt, worthlessness or simply not being wanted, in short: lack of control over your life. That is why people with eating disorders begin to "control" their weight as something that is easy to control (dieting, not eating certain things, etc). But gradually, this control becomes obsessive, sometimes even trying to expand to other areas of everyday life where, inevitably, will not be possible to carry it out, going so what I call "the first failure".

Sunk, rejected, disappointed with herself, the person with an eating disorder will seek to control more momentum that already "controlled", ie your body weight. More restrictions, more seriously and focus on achieving the goals, sometimes even extending them (wanted to reach a 38 ... but why not a size 36?). And with each failure, more tough on yourself until the situation becomes untenable. And then you break, and you begin to dream to join the pieces.

It is at this point where we meet Cassie, a being broken dreamer, hopeless hopes and a heavy heart. Someone very big but it is believed very small and is afraid to get off the ground. Someone who knows the tricks (unforgettable the scene of Cassie and Sid in the cafeteria, where she explains what to do to feed more people and that they believe comes) but no longer knows if he wants to apply, but does not know how to stop (the message of "EAT", present during the same episode). A desperately Cassie seeking emotional and physical stability ... and that by not getting it, punishing her body with the false belief that you can get at least that physical peace.

Fortunately for Cassie (and for all who want and, in some ways, we feel a bit like her), manages to win those battles to a greater or lesser degree, disturbing the ghosts of his past trying to hang on to their knees. If she can, why not be able to others? It is a message written between the lines of Skins, carefully deciphered by those who know what Cassie has passed; transcribed words in this article for those who perhaps had not noticed it.

The creators of Skins made Cassie a real person, evoking hope, change and encounter with oneself, beyond her candour and charm, Cassie is a hymn to life ... a song that sounds in a whisper saying "Wow, lovely".

Thanks for reading and your opinion!!