What's the score with supporting people unconditionally on a water fast?

Water Fasting and Fasting for weight loss are two support forums where unsupportive messages or debates are not allowed, so I am posting here.

It drives me crazy when I see people fasting for what I think are all the wrong reasons.

OK, I can understand people wanting to fast for an event, yes. But it doesn't always work, because the weight goes back on. They can learn from that, and I guess it does no real harm.

What though of people who gives no indication of current or target weight, come back repeatedly doing very long fasts, never ask about refeeding, and report symptoms that could be related to eating disorders such as hair loss? Reasons for fasting are such things as "my boyfriend says I am too fat" or "I hate myself". Should we just blindly support and encourage such people to fast? I have to say, I can't any more. As someone who lost 70 pounds on a series of fasts (and I am still above BMI 25) I feel really guilty when people with an obvious low self esteem problem and other warning signs ask for support because of my "success", or ask to see my before and after pics for "motivation". I feel as if I may be leading someone over the edge of a cliff.

I am reminded of an email I got from the person responsible for a large eating disorder site...

"the bottom line is anyone with an eating disorder is only going to use [curezone fasting support forums] to help self-destruct. The kindest thing you can do is say flat out, "If you have an eating disorder, this site is not for you". Of course, you can't guarantee all people will back out but at least you can make it clear where you stand.

I also would take down the links to videos that give tips about having & concealing an eating disorder. People who are sick can & will use those videos to trigger themselves.

The bottom line is there are many eating disorders. People mostly know of anorexia & bulimia, but there is also binge-eating disorder, compulsive overeating, & EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified). No one with an eating disorder, & in my opinion no one who ever had one before, should attempt a water fast or any other kind of fast. Regardless of if they are overweight, a healthy size or underweight, no good can come of it."

Unfortunately people who behave in this way are usually good at hiding it, maybe they are even hiding the truth from themselves. There are even links to curezone fasting on some pro anorexia sites. So you really can't tell who you are dealing with sometimes.

Look at these statistics:

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/anorexia-body-neglected
"Anorexia nervosa takes an enormous toll on the body. But that's not all. It has the highest death rate of any mental illness. Between 5% and 20% of people who develop the disease eventually die from it. The longer you have it, the more likely you will die from it. Even for those who survive, the disorder can damage almost every body system."

http://www.nedic.ca/knowthefacts/statistics.shtml
The death rate for eating disorders is high: it ranges between 18% (in 20-year studies) and 20% (in 30-year follow-up studies). In fact, the annual death rate associated with anorexia is more than 12 times higher than the annual death rate due to all other causes combined for females between 15 and 24 years old.

http://www.something-fishy.org/memorial/memorial.php

And apologies if the links contain terms which mention "mental illness". I hate labels and I don't really believe mental illness exists. I believe everyone who eats unhealthily and does this sort of things has their valid reasons, and if you or I were subjected to those circumstances we may do exactly the same thing. The question is how to present these people with a set of circumstances that will help them break this cycle.

I think I may be helping such people to "self-destruct" by condoning or encouraging their fasting. What do others think?

Lastly if you are reading this post and you think you may have an eating disorder of some sort, maybe watching the video below made by someone who got through anorexia might give you some better options. She made it for that very purpose. There are also support forums here on curezone, http://curezone.org/forums/f.asp?f=381 and http://curezone.org/forums/f.asp?f=438