To new readers:
The MC’s condition in this story’s original language is a made up disease with a made up name.
“Bulimia” is the word that many translators have chosen as a stand-in for this fictional disease.
I know this was translated a long while ago, but I’m still gonna throw this out here:
I understand the translators choice here and thinking that it isn’t a big deal, or even that it is actually very appropriate. No doubt many people who lodged complaints to you about the use of “bulimia” presented their arguments with misconceptions (those bullet points make that very clear lol).
However, I must make clear that the justifications presented at the end of this chapter showed some misunderstandings on your part of the condition bulimia nervosa.
(Caveat: I want to acknowledge the possibility that the comic-form of this story COULD be rushing through or muddling some important details of the MC’s condition, struggles, and treatment. The LN might go into more detail or present some things we’ve seen in a different light, making the choice to translate the MC’s fictional disease as “bulimia” seem more appropriate.)
1) Bulimia is characterized (in a super tl;dr fashion) by bingeing and purging. However, the MC does not experience binge episodes, nor does he even constantly binge. What the story has told us so far is that the MC “constantly eats”, and that he experiences anxiety when not eating. This may not seem like much difference, but the nuances are actually very telling.
2) The Purge. At the end of this chapter you claimed that the MC’s extreme exercising mirrored the exercise-response of bulimia sufferers. However, the story has not presented the MC’s exercise as a purge in response to his overeating nor as a compulsion brought on by his disease. On the contrary, the author has presented his intense exercise as a means of treatment. When the trainer told the MC that he’d done enough and it was fine to rest, the MC happily said he could go longer and his trainer was fine with it. The personal trainer is clearly aware of his condition and concerned for the MC; if the 4 hours of exercise we were presented with was a symptom of his condition and the MC was pushing himself too far, the trainer would have INSISTED that the MC stop. In fact, a big part of the trainer’s job would actually be preventing the MC from exercising too much or in unhealthy ways.
3) Most importantly, bulimia is a VERY REAL condition that affects many people; but from what was stated at the end of this chapter, it seems the disease inflicting our dear VR foodie is ENTIRELY FICTITIOUS (and according to the plot, very rare). It’s possible the author may have taken some inspiration from the symptoms and experiences of those who suffer from bulimia, but they are NOT writing about bulimia. The exact translation of the name of this fictitious disease may not carry over well into English, but inventing your own name for it would be far better than subbing in a real-world condition that your readers, or people they know, may actually suffer from.
I’m going to be very candid here. I am 28 years old and I experience both ADHD and OCD. Growing up and entering into adulthood I had been asked on numerous occasions if I experienced autism, ADHD, or OCD. However, until two years ago I always I always denied the possibility of ADHD, and it was only a few months ago that my concurrent OCD was identified.
Many times these questions were actually asked carefully and with great love by close friends who thought I may be unaware of my condition. Turns out they were right, (lol) however we always had very good discussions outlining what these conditions entailed and how my experiences differed. On the contrary, I knew my experiences and behavior were abnormal, and had done a lot of research into mental health conditions as possible explanations. The problem was, while I could talk about these conditions in a TEXTBOOK manner, I failed to understand the nuances of ADHD and OCD symptoms and how my experiences matched with others.
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Uhm so, ironically I actually really did get lost in this. Explaining my history was supposed to tie into point 3 somehow about bulimia being a real condition vs the MC’s condition being something the author invented. But I don’t remember how or where I was going. I think it had to do with how mental health conditions being presented wrongly / in oversimplified manners influenced my understanding of the conditions and how to handle having/then.
This isn’t supposed to be a joke about adhd I swear, I’m just really really tired. 😰