"Starving For Attention" Lyrics by Geri Karlstrom

Welcome to my page for recovering anorexics and bulimics. I'd like to offer you this page as a resource to my friends from around the World who struggle to recover from these life threatening eating disorders.

I've struggled with bulimia since I was a teen and so relate to the pain of this specific ED. I've also discovered that the most email I get is from young women struggling with anorexic and bulimic issues. Upon reading many of these emails and stories I realize that during my teen years I had all the symptoms of anorexia too. I've also read that you don't have to be terribly thin to have anorexia and this was my situation in high school. Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns as my email door is always open.

Here's a song I wrote for my Anorexic (ana) & Bulimic (mia) friends called "Starving For Attention":

MP3	Starving For Attention - Click on MP3

Starving For Attention Free MP3

Bones are beautiful
My drug of choice
Striving for perfection
And I'm driven to
Run to you
In the wrong direction
How does that make you feel?
Why can't I make you see?

Mom and Daddy look
It's your little girl
Starving for attention
Too much on my plate
Things that I can't face
Starving for attention

I can't be myself
The mirror tells
Lies and says I'm ugly
Am I really here?
I cut my skin
It takes a knife to find me
I can't make me feel
So now I have to bleed

Mom and Daddy look
It's your little girl
Starving for attention
Too much on my plate
Things that I can't face
Starving for attention

Hungry empty lost in her pain
She can't tell you
So she slowly fades away

Mom and Daddy look
It's your little girl
Dying for attention
Too much on her plate
Things that she can't face
Starving for attention
Craving your attention
She's dying for your attention

Words and music by Geri Karlstrom. Copyright © 2001 Ger's Music. All Rights Reserved,

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What is Anorexia Nervosa?

Individuals with anorexia nervosa are unwilling or unable to maintain a body weight that is normal or expectable for their age and height (most clinicians use 85% of normal weight as a guide). Individuals with anorexia nervosa typically display a pronounced fear of weight gain and a dread of becoming fat although they are dramatically underweight. Concerns and perceptions about their weight have a extremely powerful influence and impact on their self-evaluation. The seriousness of the weight loss and its physical effects is minimized or denied (women with the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa have missed at least three consecutive menstrual cycles).

Diagnostic criteria of anorexia nervosa include two subtypes of the disorder that describe two distinct behavioral patterns. Individuals with the Restricting Type maintain their low body weight purely by restricting food intake and increased activity (i.e. compulsive exercise). Those with the Binge-Eating/Purging Type usually restrict their food intake but also regularly engage in binge eating and/or purging behaviors (i.e. self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas). Binge-Eating/Purging Type of Anorexia Nervosa is also frequently associated with other impulse control problems and mood disorders.

People who suffer from anorexia often have low self-esteem and a tremendous need to control their surroundings and emotions. The eating disorder is often a reaction to external and internal conflicts (i.e. anxiety, stress, and unhappiness can be leading factors).
Eating Disorder Center