I followed Pro-Ana very closely, having a loved one who was deeply involved in many of those sites...
"Anamadim" is a relatively uncommon name for the entity that pro-ana folks use to personify their disorders. Not saying that isn't used, but more common is "Ana" for anorexia and "Mia" for bulimia. ED patients describe using these names as alibis when talking with family. "I'm not hungry. I had lunch with Ana today."
Anyone who treats eating disorders needs to take at least a few hours to check out these sites. There are hundreds of forums and tip sites. Google pro-ana or thinspiration to find them. You will find many of your patients there, trading tips and tricks to outwit your best efforts to help them.
Yes, Ana for Anorexia, Mia for Bulimia and then there was Betty and Chloe for Binge Eating Disorder and Compulsive Over Eating, but those didn't really catch on. In 12 years of being involved with both ED support sites, and trying to get people away from destructive 'Pro Ana' sites, not once have I seen the term 'Ana' being used as an alibi for not eating - unless you actually have a friend named Ana, saying to someone 'It's okay, I already ate with Ana' I would expect would lead to the obvious question 'Who's Ana??' I have seen similar statements used in a semi sarcastic manner to express frustration about their illness, for example, 'Well I was planning to have lunch today, until Ana showed up'. The use of names to personify an Eating Disorder isn't exactly a new thing either, I named my Anorexia 'Anna' back in the 80s, and I know a lot of people from support groups back then who did the same. As a teenager 'Anna' was the 'friend who kept me safe' and part of the therapy work I now do for the remaining aspects of my Eating Disorder involves a degree of acceptance and even gratitude for the fact that although it was ultimately destructive, 'Anna' was still a coping mechanism for me, and it was one of the only ones I had at that time - accept that it's there, accept that it was/is a coping mechanism, look at it with compassion, and then let go with the reminder that what once was a necessary emotional survival skill is no longer needed. The first time my Psychiatrist went through that process with me I think I looked at him like he'd just grown another head.
I did re-personify my illness many, many years after being a teenager (in the first few years of my involvement in ED support groups, and in the subsequent early stages of recovery). There is a saying by Sally Kempton, which often appears on mental health support forums, 'How do you fight an enemy who has outposts in your head'. Well for some people personifying their Eating Disorder with a name such as 'Ana' or 'Mia' (Eddie's another one that is used sometimes) gives them something concrete to fight against. One should never assume that if a person or patient is using terms like 'Ana' that they are automatically using it in the context of being 'Pro Ana' and are looking at ways to fight treatment at every turn. I'm far enough into recovery now that I no longer need to personify my Eating Disorder with a separate name and identity, but in those early stages it helped.
Of course I'm not saying that destructive sites where the illness(es) are personified as something positive, don't still exist; however you will find that those resembling the first wave movement of 'Pro Anorexia' are nowhere near as prevalent, or well organised these days. Those that do still exist have migrated to other platforms, and if you read some of the responses to what they are putting out there, most of them aren't in favour or agreement at all. I left the recovery advocacy work I was doing a number of years ago to concentrate on my own recovery, but there are still people out there who do attempt to establish a positive dialogue with these (typically) girls and encourage them towards treatment. And for every 10 or 20 comments they get in return telling them to 'eff off' there's always that one voice that speaks up and says 'How do I get treatment?' That's one of the main reasons I'm actually against the banning of so called 'Pro Ana' sites. Banning these sites isn't going to magically make the problem disappear, and it just means advocacy groups can't access these girls as easily and (hopefully) move them towards accepting recovery. As for tips and tricks being given to outwit treatment programs, that did use to occur on the support site I'm a member of, although these days it happens far more rarely. There are other sites out there; however, that are more in line with what the original support groups were like going back a decade or so ago, where such questions are asked on a more regular basis, but again if you look at the progression of responses for every five negative replies a post of this ilk might receive invariably there'll be one member who speaks up and asks why they are trying to sabotage treatment, and then another will speak up, and another, and another, and so on. And then what started out as a 'please help me trick my therapist' post, eventually morphs into the person admitting their fears surrounding the treatment process and affords other members who are also in treatment the opportunity to talk the person through some of their fears with the hope of keeping them on track. Those sorts of conversations might never happen if it weren't for the fact that an individual was allowed to speak or express themselves openly in the first place. I'm definitely not saying these sites can't be an extremely toxic influence at times, and there are some people who do become further enmeshed in their disorder(s) because of their involvement in these types of groups, but again in the majority of these cases it tends to follow a very specific pattern that as soon as a persons behaviours are challenged, or concern is expressed for their welfare (believe me, no one in any of these groups ever wants to see a member die) their immediate response is to pack up shop and go somewhere else (with many of them just continuously moving from one group to the next).
Just personally I don't think there's any easy answer or one way only to approach or look at these sorts of groups. It's very easy to stamp them all with the label of 'destructive' but in my opinion, and experience, that's taking far too simplistic an approach. For some their involvement is both negative and ultimately destructive, for others the groups are a lifeline (quite literally in certain cases - at least one member of the support group I'm involved with had their life saved when an organised intervention was held, wherein contact with the person's parents was made and a full account of everything they'd kept hidden was handed over, resulting in an immediate emergency admission to hospital - at the time of that admission a full medical assessment indicated they were less than 48 hours away from dying, had they not been involved with the forum in the first place, and had their involvement not afforded people the opportunity to intervene when they did, they probably wouldn't be alive today). In both cases it does tend to be more what the individual is seeking, rather than the influence of the groups themselves (not always of course, but just as a general rule of thumb). For those who are looking to slip further down the rabbit hole, that's what they'll find and that's how they'll approach their own use of these types of groups (and like I said depending on the group's set up, they may find themselves moving from one group to the next in order to pursue their destructive goals), for those who are looking for support, and possibly a chance at treatment or recovery, that's what they will likely find and gravitate towards themselves.
I am very sorry to hear about your loved one being so deeply involved in what sounds like the destructive aspects of some of these sites. Depending on when they were utilising them I may have come into contact with them at some point during my days of recovery/treatment advocacy.
Just out of interest as well there's an article in the Journal of Eating Disorders regarding the success of mentorship programs. As I mentioned in my previous post there are support groups out there where a type of unofficial mentoring process occurs, with members who are recovered, or further along in the recovery process will take those newer to recovery and/or treatment under their wings and help them through the process.
http://www.jeatdisord.com/content/2/1/24
And while we're on the topic of support groups, I don't know if anyone on here, perhaps in the UK (??) is aware of the case of Jay Taylor, the B-eat (beat eating disorders UK) ambassador who died of heart failure last year.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2405817/Facebook-tributes-Eating-Disorder-Association-ambassador-Jay-Walker-24-Newcastle-died-heart-failure-12-year-anorexia-battle.html
Jay was a member of our support group, and the word 'amazing' gets bandied around a lot in the media when people speak about her, but in Jay's case the term fits - she really was an amazing person. Unfortunately despite numerous hospital admissions, various attempts at treatment, being place on section, and all the support and encouragement towards wellness we tried our hardest to give her, she succumbed to her illness. She was loved by so many people and she is still incredibly missed, but shining a light in the dark if anyone happened to catch the 'Supersize vs Superskinny' episode where her story was featured, Jay's friend who also appeared in the episode, I'm very happy to report, is doing incredibly well and has just been accepted into a Mental Health Nursing degree, along with being involved in volunteer counselling and mentoring work with an Eating Disorders and Mental Health Advocacy group.
You can see the episode with Jay's story here (I think I have it set up so it should just play from that point to save people having to wade through the entire thing - I'm also assuming with the name of the YouTube Channel that this is from an official site and therefore doesn't contravene copyright as share options are in place).