Dr. Dray

[whosurbuddha]

I attempted to watch videos posted within the past couple of days, but I couldn't stand her rambling about tipping.

[4 fraud detection]

Anyone else find it sadly ironic that she is prisoner to her obsession with being desperately health conscious, yet the first impression of her to any objective outsider is "this woman is shockingly unhealthy"?

It boggles my mind that she sacrifices anything REMOTELY enjoyable in life and yet has nothing to even show for it.. I don't understand

I'm like you for sure it is sadly ironic : if she stay in that "place" there is a probability that she will prematurely die of a healthy-overdose. Her brain must be such a mess that elementary common sense has no place in it. You cannot even consider her as a minimalist or ascetic because since the beginning of her channel she always names brands for everything. I don't know if her unique pleasure in life is to see her bank account growing and to be admired.

[Stevia]

So she makes all the embarrassing details of her life public, like her eating disorder, her relationship with her Mom, her lack of friends or any interests or involvement with anyone else, her odd, obsessive habits. Yet she's fiercely defensive and private about any questions about these. She's obsessed with being healthy, to the point at which she actually looks ill. She's a qualified dermatologist yet is unable to see that reapplying sunscreen 3 or 4 times a day, in winter, when she's not leaving the house, is unnecessary.

So what are we actually watching here? A woman approaching 40 who had a trauma in childhood which also affected the attachment between her and her Mom, who tends to cope through over-controlling things. She shouldn't be on YouTube. The whole thing is bizarre.

[StandUpWoman]

Someone mentioned previously that she seemed to get worse after her mother moved to Houston. I wonder if that is the case. In the early days of her videos, not only was she working in a clinic, she went to church a few times, she ran in marathons, she went to a barre class, she met old college friends who were visiting in Texas, and probably other stuff I can't recall at the moment.

When her mother moved there, I was actually relieved, thinking she would help her. But Dr Dray seems to have become worse with her mother there, more isolated and more restrictive in her diet. I wonder if she started depending on her mother's company, and so didn't feel the need to force herself to get out there. I don't judge her mother, after losing one child. I think they both need help.

[ilikeitlikethat]

I think her mother initially move closer to her because of her eating disorder getting worse. Her Facebook is public (Andrea's FB is public too and you can clearly see the shift when she arrived in texas) and she says she moved to Houston because "I gotta be close to my daughter". I also wonder why Andrea moved to Houston since her mother wasn't living there.

Maybe her mother tries to help but we don't see the reality of things. We actually see only a little part of their life and Andrea is good at manipulating and controlling things. I hope her mother makes her see someone and is not only here watching and thinking the YouTube thing is amazing. YouTube is actually amplifying Andrea's illness because she tries to do everything so perfectly (in her own way ...) And she knows she is being watched . Its a morbid spiral.

[_no_idea_]

YouTube is actually amplifying Andrea's illness because she tries to do everything so perfectly (in her own way ...) And she knows she is being watched . Its a morbid spiral.

Yeah, I can't see how making yourself a public figure to any extent would ever help with the "never enough" gene (never fit enough, never healthy enough, never perfect enough, never likeable enough, and so on).

I also wonder if she knows about forums like this (probably does) and I worry about how that could further the problem even more (having a live feed of her own public image she can obsess about whenever).

[dew2]

Even the strictest of dieters that I know allow themselves a treat every now and then. I have a friend who does fitness competitions and she indulges some. It's crazy how she never gets a treat of any kind. It's like she gets a high off of depriving herself.

She's in the throes of anorexia masked as extreme orthorexia, so yes, she definitely gets high off of deprivation, strict routines, bizarre food rules, and regimented denial.

[Missfifibelle1925]

What I find strange is the amount of comments she gets on how she looks. I have shown screenshots of her to my husband and several of my friends and they have all said she looks ill. My husband is the sort of person who rarely passes judgement on appearances but he specifically asked me to reconsider my vegan diet so I wouldn't look like Andrea. Yet, when you go to her comment section there are literally HUNDREDS of comments from people saying she's stunning, has great legs etc. It's like they're looking at a completely different person. I'm not saying she's unattractive because she's not but she looks ILL, like a skeleton in the swimsuit video. Her features seem to big for her face. Her smoothie bowls sometimes have 2 or 3 nuts or 2 or 3 berries on them. How does she survive on so little? She must feel so light headed. I honestly wish her well but I worry for her.

[Fire in Her Eyes]

Her stans know she’s ill, they don’t really care. She has curated her audience and they give her what she wants, an echo chamber of praise and compliments.

[Stevia]

Her stans know she’s ill, they don’t really care. She has curated her audience and they give her what she wants, an echo chamber of praise and compliments.

Exactly! That's not really brave, is it? She has adjusted EVERYTHING around her to accommodate her eating disorder.

[iamsobored]

Besides her veneers and cheek fillers, do you guys think she has had any other work done?

[Guest]

What I find strange is the amount of comments she gets on how she looks. I have shown screenshots of her to my husband and several of my friends and they have all said she looks ill. My husband is the sort of person who rarely passes judgement on appearances but he specifically asked me to reconsider my vegan diet so I wouldn't look like Andrea. Yet, when you go to her comment section there are literally HUNDREDS of comments from people saying she's stunning, has great legs etc. It's like they're looking at a completely different person. I'm not saying she's unattractive because she's not but she looks ILL, like a skeleton in the swimsuit video. Her features seem to big for her face. Her smoothie bowls sometimes have 2 or 3 nuts or 2 or 3 berries on them. How does she survive on so little? She must feel so light headed. I honestly wish her well but I worry for her.

It seems to go to a sad pathology of middle class and upper class white women in the US, many of whom want to be ultra-thin at all costs. There are so many instagram influencers who are the same - people like Lauren Sims and Dani Austin. They get tons of comments on how great they look (Lauren and Dani don’t seem to be as obviously restricting and over-exercising as Andrea, but nonetheless...). But we should remember that there are active communities of “pro-ana” women and teens, and for them, people like Andrea (who has an obvious illness) are heroes. It’s disturbing all around. I get that some people are naturally slim; however, in Andrea’s case, it’s not “thin-shaming” as, while she might be naturally slim, she appeared to be healthier in older pictures, and her current weight is not her natural weight. She is expending a lot of effort to look that way, through exercising and restricting her intake.

Your husband’s concerns point to a bigger problem I have with her channel. I eat plant-based, and yet I have a normal BMI with normal blood test results (you probably do, too). Andrea’s version of “vegan eating” is totally unhealthy. The majority of vegans are very careful to get all of their required nutrients from their meals - including plenty of carbs in the form of various breads made with teff flour, lentil flour, etc. and lots of rice and beans. I take extra vitamin B to make sure I’m hitting the required level, but my nutrition comes from food.

It really irks me that she’s putting up videos of herself eating next to nothing... I think about younger or impressionable women or girls watching her and thinking that starvation and eating only vegetables is “vegan” eating and will help them lose weight. Like your husband, they might think that her malnourished appearance is a result of a vegan diet. In fact, it’s a result of a disordered diet.

I used to watch her when she first started her channel and had less than 15,000 subs, and I found her quirky and different. Slowly, I realized she was unwell and I unsubscribed. That all seems to have sped up dramatically in the past year. Instead of being aspirational and unique, she’s now clearly in the throes of illness. Watching someone disintegrate mentally and physically is totally unappealing.

[Sputnik]

You can eat chips all day long and be vegan. Veganism and health are not synonymous. Of course vegans might be more health conscious, but I've seen a ton of fat vegans who are vegan for ethical reasons alone. There's a lot of crappy vegan foods that you can survive on. Andrea is just using it as an excuse to eat low quantities of bland foods.

[SillySausage]

I wonder if she has a lot of viewers with eating disorders that can relate and are looking for Ana Mia inspo on YT and then she's also a Doctor so that makes it a whole inspirational and aspirational thing. I just don't understand the comments at all. It's the most bizarre channel I ever clicked on.

[4 fraud detection]

Besides her veneers and cheek fillers, do you guys think she has had any other work done?

She has hair extensions in one of her Instagram pic ( Attitude shampoo).
Regarding "work" to be done she should consider her protruding ears, and to plane down her calves and some of her ribs . Regarding her teeth she should whiten the old teeth to match with the new teeth. For her lanugo laser remowal seems not working. For an anorexic she is not well body balanced. I don't know if it is because she eats to much vegetables with carotene that she is yellow on some part of her face and inner corner of her eyes; maybe it will be easier for her to bleach her skin than to change her diet.

[ilikeitlikethat]

What I find strange is the amount of comments she gets on how she looks. I have shown screenshots of her to my husband and several of my friends and they have all said she looks ill. My husband is the sort of person who rarely passes judgement on appearances but he specifically asked me to reconsider my vegan diet so I wouldn't look like Andrea. Yet, when you go to her comment section there are literally HUNDREDS of comments from people saying she's stunning, has great legs etc. It's like they're looking at a completely different person. I'm not saying she's unattractive because she's not but she looks ILL, like a skeleton in the swimsuit video. Her features seem to big for her face. Her smoothie bowls sometimes have 2 or 3 nuts or 2 or 3 berries on them. How does she survive on so little? She must feel so light headed. I honestly wish her well but I worry for her.

I believe her community is really looking like a pro ana forum type. You can't compliment her and not have issues yourself.

[anderbobo]

The fact that she thinks BAKERS CHOCOLATE mixed with stevia is an indulgence is all anybody should need to hear to realize she has a serious problem.

[4 fraud detection]

I believe her community is really looking like a pro ana forum type. You can't compliment her and not have issues yourself.

I believe her community has some others"issues" too. It's a kind of community for people feeling bad in their body and mind. If you go to her Instagram account and visit her commenter's account you will see some weird individuals.

[ReeRee37]

I noticed that her channel passed 200k subscribers, and her views tripled from being merely around 5k to 15k per each video (approximately). Pretty impressive compared to her numbers from last year. Also, every time I'm in this thread, there are more and more guests browsing. I imagine a lot of people who are fed up with her strict comment policing will end up here eventually.

Another YT channel made a dumb video about skincare (Tati) and it was so dumb that lots of fans of Dr Dray were talking about how much they love Dray in Tati's comment section - thus the new influx of subs.

Wait till they stick around for a bit. Bet this thread will be even more active.

For what it's worth, a number of them did reference her emaciated frame. Regardless of however much she and her actions annoys me now (would've loved to see her booted from Sephora), her skin care advice is on point. Tati really made a fool of herself... I wonder if she will take in anything that Dr. Dray has to say re: skin care, or if she will continue to appease the fear mongers.

I love Tati and some of what she says is good (she’s cutting out fragrance and the like) but yeah she definitely made a fool of herself in that video before I even watched it I knew the dr dray fans would be in the comments bc it was going to be a mess, like most beauty guru videos on skincare. If anyone is looking though, one woman I like to watch who gives good skincare advice is Liah Yoo. She isn’t a dermatologist but what she says usually matches up with what dr dray says, with the added benefit that she doesn’t demonize anything and also gives makeup advice. She’s also not a train wreck if you like dr drays advice but not her in general, y’all should check Liah out

[ReeRee37]

I just watched it again... Interesting how she cuts her mother off when she tries to share her perspective (whilst appreciating Dr. Dray's point of view). I'd be interested in knowing how her mother feels, as well, as she is also worthy of having an opinion. If a little girl really wants to dress up and go to a dance with her father (hopefully all of the daughters at such a Ball would feel that way), would Dr. Dray think that it would be somehow wrong or tragic for a little girl to want to do that? Of course she had to mention the makeup part, as well.... Get over it, Dr. Dray, some of us LIKE to wear a little makeup regardless of how useless she thinks it is.

Lowkey wish her mom would start a YouTube channel or a blog or something (can you imagine? Life of an Anorexic Sociopath’s Mother) but Andrea would never allow it, of course. I do wish she could start one in secret, idk. That’s what I’d do