I'm sort of understanding it

Let me just start off by saying no one should judge people with eating disorders, saying they're selfish and they can snap out of it very easily. If you have never been through it, you have no idea.

I've never exactly had an eating disorder, I constantly think about dieting and how much better it would be to be thin but no where near how these girls are. But, how I'm starting to understand it is I'm comparing it to having anxiety. I have HORRIBLE anxiety, and I want so badly to change it but I can't just wake up one morning and think "hey, I'm not going to be nervous and anxious anymore, or have random panic attacks". So, if what they're going through is anything like my anxiety, then I completely understand, since anxiety has a LOT to do with eating disorders. I'm sure it goes much further than just dieting and wanting to look good.

So I think people should at least try to understand it before saying these girls are selfish, it's not a real mental illness, they can snap out of it etc. If you have never been through it, then you have no room to judge. How would you like it if you were going through something you couldn't easily change and people were criticizing you for it?