What if anything do our clients gain from life after eating disorders?

Abstract

Reviews the book, Gaining: The truth about life after eating disorders by Aimee Liu (see record 2007-02917-000). The reviewers praise the author for writing an ambitious, comprehensive and informative book about the lives of individuals after they overcome their eating disorder(s). The author interviewed numerous individuals with histories of eating disorders, and also presents her story following her own eating disorder. The book is organized into chapters with specific themes, illustrated by excerpts from discussions the author had with her interviewees. The reviewer provides an overview of chapter topics, including (1) social and familial factors contributing to eating disorders; (2) temperamental and personality characteristics that contribute to eating disorders; (3) other risk factors; (4) comorbidity; (5) genetic factors; (6) neurochemical factors; and (7) treatments. The reviewers felt it was important to mention that although therapeutic approaches are presented in the book, the majority of the cases presented either have not undergone formal treatment or have overcome their problem via other means. Within 263 pages, over 40 stories are mentioned, some as briefly as a couple of sentences, others more extensively. Therefore, the reviewers warn that confusion is a possibility when reading the book. Nevertheless, they recommend it to both clinicians who work with eating disorders, and to clients with eating pathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)