{"id":9340,"date":"2017-07-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/condition-anorexia-anorexia-eating-disorder-to-the-bone\/"},"modified":"2017-07-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-07-14T00:00:00","slug":"condition-anorexia-anorexia-eating-disorder-to-the-bone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/condition-anorexia-anorexia-eating-disorder-to-the-bone\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix's 'To the Bone' Is Streaming Now—Here's What an Eating Disorder Expert Thinks"},"content":{"rendered":"
To the Bone<\/i>, Netflix’s highly anticipated and controversial film about a young woman with anorexia, began streaming this morning. Buzz has been building for months about the movie, starring Lily Collins, and it’s received both praise and criticism (based on advanced screenings and the trailer<\/a>, released last month) for its portrayal of such a sensitive topic.<\/p>\n For people with real-life experience with eating disorders, reaction to the movie has also been mixed. A writer for In Style<\/i> who recently completed a treatment program herself applauded the movie for touching on some of the most important (and frustrating) things about recovery that often don't get any screen time<\/a>. Meanwhile, an article in The Guardian<\/i>, also written by someone with a history of disordered eating, calls To the Bone<\/i> “shallow, sexist, and sick<\/a>.”<\/p>\n The movie revolves around 20-year-old Ellen and her experience in an in-patient recovery program. To find out what someone who treats patients for eating disorders thinks of the film—and suggestions that it glamorizes anorexia<\/a>, or could be triggering for vulnerable viewers—Health<\/i> spoke with Bonnie Brennan, a licensed professional counselor and senior clinical director of adult services at Eating Recovery Center<\/a> in Denver. Here’s what she thinks the movie got right and wrong, and what people should know before watching.<\/p>\n RELATED: Subtle Signs of Eating Disorders<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Brennan, who has worked with disordered eating patients in outpatient, residential, and inpatient settings, says To the Bone<\/i> is a “really touching, powerful, and honest attempt to portray eating disorders.” And while she does take issue with a few things in the film, she says that overall, “I thought the artists did a great job, and I applaud them for their efforts.”<\/p>\n She was pleased to see diversity in the cast; along with Ellen and a few other young white women, the residents of the treatment center include a 20-something male, an African-American woman, and a pregnant woman. “Of course, more diversity could still be represented, because eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes and across all ages,” says Brennan. “But I’m glad they didn’t just stick with the version of a typical anorexic most people are used to.”<\/p>\n The movie also does a good job portraying a lot of the behaviors that people with eating disorders partake in, says Brennan, including ones that people unfamiliar with the topic may know nothing about. Ellen, for example, is obsessed with counting calories and measuring her arm circumference, and she does sit-ups so frequently that her back is chronically bruised.<\/p>\n “They highlight how the exercise Ellen is compelled to do is not enjoyable,” says Brennan. “You can see the real difference between someone who exercises for health and well-being and someone who’s doing it for painful, obsessive reasons.”<\/p>\n Watch: 6 Things to Know About Male Eating Disorders<\/strong><\/p>\n “There’s no doubt that, for folks who have been affected by eating disorders, they’re going to see some stuff that’s hard to watch,” says Brennan. That’s true of the characters’ physical appearances, as well as their behaviors around food. “One thing to know about eating disorders is that there’s this competitive side of wanting to be the sickest and the thinnest,” she adds, “and those things probably will bring up, for some folks, the lure of the illness.”<\/p>\n That doesn’t mean the movie will cause people to relapse, however, and it doesn’t mean that anyone who’s struggling automatically shouldn’t watch it.<\/p>\n “I recommend that if you are affected by eating disorders in any way, that you watch this with a support person you can trust,” says Brennan. It can also help for people to make a note of specific things in the movie that bother them, she says, and have a conversation afterward with a counselor or someone they can trust.<\/p>\n The film’s casting of Collins—who struggled with anorexia and bulimia<\/a> in her teens—has also been heavily criticized by some. Brennan acknowledges that the actress’s decision to participate in the film “must have been incredibly hard and painful, and I’m going to assume it came from a place of love and purpose.” Collins and the film’s director have also spoken out about that decision<\/a>, and the steps they took to make sure she lost (and regained) weight for the role in a healthy manner.<\/p>\n To get our top stories, sign up for the HEALTH newsletter<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n When To the Bone<\/i> isn’t focused on Ellen’s life in the treatment center, it’s exploring her relationship with her family—including a stepmother who doesn’t understand her, an absentee father, and a sister who admits she’s angry that Ellen won’t “just eat” and get better.<\/p>\n “Often families don’t know what to do when a loved one is suffering; they feel like they’re doing everything wrong,” says Brennan. While Ellen’s stepmom says and does a lot of questionable things, “she was willing to step up and be there for the hard stuff, like getting her into treatment,” Brennan says.<\/p>\n Brennan does think that the fact that Ellen’s dad was too busy working to attend family therapy or make it home for dinner was one stereotype the movie didn’t need. (He never once appears on screen.) “As a clinician who’s worked with families for many years, I will say that our dads really are showing up to support their sons and daughters in treatment.”<\/p>\n The film does a lot of things well<\/strong> <\/h3>\n
Yes, it can be triggering<\/strong> <\/h3>\n
It highlights the role of families<\/strong> <\/h3>\n