Biting Anorexia
A first-hand account of an internal war
Teacher and student resource
9781876451929 | 2008
224 pp book
$24.95
Year level
Anorexia nervosa is the most fatal of all psychiatric illnesses, and over 90 per cent of eating disorder victims are young women. While anorexia is often portrayed in the media as a phase that some young girls obsessed by their appearance go through, the realities of the illness prove that nothing could be further from the truth. As Lucy states in her powerful depiction:
'This isn't about weight, or a diet or a figure. Somewhere along the line I've come to equate fat with failure and weakness. Weight loss is merely symptomatic of the greater psychological problem'.
Biting Anorexia is unique in that much of it was written while the author was in the grips of the condition. Recovery is the hardest, most challenging and most confusing part - and the one least written about. This book tracks her slow progress out of the illness. Lucy says: 'To challenge an eating disorder, or any mental illness, is to wage a prolonged, painful and devastating war... it is the most confusing and emotionally draining part of the illness.'
Lucy's poetic, honest and often searing account allows the reader to experience the immediacy of her illness. Her lyrical writing and devastating insights have the power to capture, reveal and skewer simultaneously.
This book is a must for every secondary school library, and every parent, friend, teacher or relative who knows someone with this debilitating illness.