Depending on which of the types mentioned above a pro-ana website is, pro-ana websites can be helpful, a nuisance, or extremely dangerous. A lot of sites, for instance, provide very helpful information. There are some sites that actually warn surfers from using certain types of tonics to induce nausea and vomiting, as these have adverse effects on the body.

On the other hand, you will also find pro-ana websites that are disdainful of anorexics that want to get better. The numbers in this category are obviously much smaller compared to the category just discussed in the previous paragraph.

The Dangers that Pro-Ana Websites Pose

These sites can sometimes be a very bad influence. There are pro-ana sites that promote the concept of ‘thinspiration’. Thinspiration is a concept that encourages idolization of people with extremely thin physiques. Idolization is always a dangerous concept, especially when there are youngsters around, for their minds are easily swayed. It is easy for them to make the wrong decision, and a wrong decision in this case could be a very costly one.

Such thinspiration can also bring about an air of false superiority among younger anorexics, who would actually feel proud of their emaciated bodies and mock people that were healthy as fat and overweight.

In the next article on pro-ana websites and the pro-ana movement, we will discuss the psychological implications of this movement, and what the anti-ana movement is doing to counter the pro-ana movement.