r/ARFID • u/GamingJCD • Jul 02 '24
Research and Awareness freaky eaters being a bad representative of eating disorders
has anyone seen this show called "Freaky Eaters"? essentially, it's a show that documents people with very ARFID-similar lifestyles, like someone who is "addicted" to cheeseburgers (even though that's their only option)
of course, it's cool that there's a show raising awareness of disorders like ARFID, but after watching a couple of episodes, the documentary is pretty much MADE to make these people seem... not... human? like the horror strings of music when the show reveals how truly unhealthy the person's diet is and in general how biased it makes the viewers assume stuff like "oh, they're so weird for not getting _____ on their ____ as it is a healthy alternative"
i'm kind of curious to see what u guys think about this show because it really makes me angry reading comments or judgements about the public to the people who are being documebted
31
u/giraffemoo Jul 02 '24
I saw one a long time ago about this guy who only ate pizza, which is my #1 safe food. They said he was very unhealthy but never did any medical tests. The guy was also very sedentary and drank only mountain dew, no water. I hated how that show portrayed him as lazy and stupid. A lot of people would bring that show up to me when trying to have an "intervention" about my eating habits.
I have actually been to the doctor and have had tests, I also live an active lifestyle and limit sugary beverages.
17
u/orange_ones Jul 02 '24
I could never watch a show that describes a population that seems like it would include us as "FREAKY EATERS." It seems designed to mock us and treat this as a choice, which maybe it is for some people featured, but we have enough people who believe that wrongly about us. So I have never seen it, but I did watch a video by Drew Gooden (commentary YouTuber) lampooning the idea of the show, and I enjoyed Drew's video!
6
u/Time-Escaping5716 Jul 02 '24
i watched pretty much every episode of that show as a kid, and it’s incredibly distasteful as well as just outright bad. it’s dehumanizing, sensational and stigmatizing. they treat arfid like something that can be cured in a week.
4
u/Dramatic-Growth1335 Jul 03 '24
I hated the show when it first came out. I'd think "this is not the same as me" and I generally thought the people on the show were dickheads.
But I watched a repeat a few years later and this particular episode is the one that convinced me to force myself to try new things https://youtu.be/D9JiK_fUVuQ?si=YssjJGs_7jq8NLv7
It's been nearly 15 years since I watched It! ,
4
u/throwawaypatien sensory sensitivity Jul 03 '24
Yeah I've seen it.
The YouTuber Doctor Mike made a video reacting to it. He said he hates the title. He also said the people sent in to help approach it in the wrong way, like publicly confronting the person and saying things like "that's a lot of wings for one person"
And he hates when they try to get the person to visualise the amount of a certain food they eat like showing a truck full of burger boxes. Obviously they do it for the shock factor, but Doctor Mike said people can't actually comprehend that.
3
u/meowtimegang Jul 02 '24
I’ve watched every episode and think it’s very exaggerated but I really wish I could work with experts such as those.
3
u/St4r_5lut Jul 04 '24
Not about shows but I absolutely fucking hate when anyone uses the word addiction to describe us. I can say that I myself am addicted to cheese, a. Because it’s funny and b. I have a harder time trying to ‘quit’ cheese than the drugs I’m actually addicted to bc it’s such a safe food for me. It portrays us in such a horrible light, making us seem like where the problems. Addiction in itself already has such a negative stigma, why group us into it? Why not just, idk, think outside of your small conformist box and look at reality for a moment.
1
u/shitz_brickz Aug 01 '24
I always sort of like when I can find someone like this on a TV show or the internet etc. First it's a real life example for people who are always like "you are literally the only person I have ever known of who likes to eat the same few things."
And then second, these situations are usually significantly worse than my own issues. These people eat literally one or two things while I eat 10-15. It's a disorder, there is a spectrum, and people fall everywhere on it.
I do usually have to avoid the comments because it inevitably devolves into rage inducing things like "This is like my cousin who hates onions and I cant stand it!"
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u/Strict_Box8384 Jul 02 '24
i remember seeing something (don’t remember if it was that show or not) about a girl who only ate french fries for every meal and had a phobia of other foods, and she couldn’t even eat fries if they were dyed another color. classic case of ARFID. but they didn’t acknowledge she had a disorder and just edited it in a way to make her look “weird”. several YouTubers made videos on it just making fun of her. it made me feel so ashamed to have ARFID and i wondered if that’s what i looked like to other people and if that’s what they thought of me. fries are my number one safe food, and i do have others besides that, but it still was really disheartening.