Suggested Reading Books Reviewed
Injecting Hope: Prevention & Recovery Eating Disorders in Type 1 Diabetes by Ann Goebel-Fabbri
As friends and family members, what we want most is to comprehend this disorder and to know how to help. In Injecting Hope, Dr. Goebel-Fabbri combines over 16 years of experience treating the comorbidity of diabetes and eating disorders with focused interviews of 25 women who have recovered. The result is a perfect melding of science and personal experience. This approach not only gives you the knowledge you seek, but will also help you better understand what your loved one is going through, how they got there, and more importantly what you can do that will be of the most help (and what you should avoid doing). There are a lot of books on eating disorders and on diabetes, and very few on the complexity of dealing with both. This book is a must read. (Reviewed by D.L.A.)
As friends and family members, what we want most is to comprehend this disorder and to know how to help. In Injecting Hope, Dr. Goebel-Fabbri combines over 16 years of experience treating the comorbidity of diabetes and eating disorders with focused interviews of 25 women who have recovered. The result is a perfect melding of science and personal experience. This approach not only gives you the knowledge you seek, but will also help you better understand what your loved one is going through, how they got there, and more importantly what you can do that will be of the most help (and what you should avoid doing). There are a lot of books on eating disorders and on diabetes, and very few on the complexity of dealing with both. This book is a must read. (Reviewed by D.L.A.)
Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia by Sheila & Lisa Himmel
If you every found yourself wondering does my child really have an eating disorder or is she just a non-compliant diabetic, this book will answer your questions unequivocally. The farther into the book I read, the more that things our family was going through made sense. It was heartening to learn that other families experienced the same emotions, the same conversations, the same tension between hope dashed and hope renewed. Mother, Sheila, and daughter, Lisa, each offer their perspective on the events leading up to Lisa’s eating disorder and on through recovery. As Sheila enjoyed increasing success as a food critic, Lisa faced a growing battle with our food obsessed and image conscious culture. I highly recommend this book for any family member struggling to help a loved one. (Reviewed by D.L.A.)
If you every found yourself wondering does my child really have an eating disorder or is she just a non-compliant diabetic, this book will answer your questions unequivocally. The farther into the book I read, the more that things our family was going through made sense. It was heartening to learn that other families experienced the same emotions, the same conversations, the same tension between hope dashed and hope renewed. Mother, Sheila, and daughter, Lisa, each offer their perspective on the events leading up to Lisa’s eating disorder and on through recovery. As Sheila enjoyed increasing success as a food critic, Lisa faced a growing battle with our food obsessed and image conscious culture. I highly recommend this book for any family member struggling to help a loved one. (Reviewed by D.L.A.)
Brave Girl Eating: A Family’s Struggle with Anorexia by Harriet Brown
Brave Girl Eating stands out among the many eating disorder memoirs because this story is told from the family’s perspective. Harriet Brown does an excellent job of chronicling both what her daughter goes through from the first warning signs to full blown illness to recovery, and how that journey impacts their family, how the family responds, and what does and doesn’t work for them. While the book focuses on anorexia, you could replace “food” with “insulin” and “eating” with “injecting”, and it would ring just as true for families struggling with diabulimia. By weaving current research with her daughter’s story, the author creates a narrative that is both informative and captivating. The book is a very straight forward telling of their journey together – it is neither doom and gloom nor rainbows and false hope. Because of this than reader can trust what she says. I especially appreciate the honest nature Ms. Brown exhibits in talking about her anger, her doubts and her mistakes. Having been down this road myself, the book feels very authentic. Note: Ms. Brown has a bit of a bias toward family based therapy (FBT) which works well for many patients, but every person is different so every treatment plan will be different. (Reviewed by D.L.A.)
Brave Girl Eating stands out among the many eating disorder memoirs because this story is told from the family’s perspective. Harriet Brown does an excellent job of chronicling both what her daughter goes through from the first warning signs to full blown illness to recovery, and how that journey impacts their family, how the family responds, and what does and doesn’t work for them. While the book focuses on anorexia, you could replace “food” with “insulin” and “eating” with “injecting”, and it would ring just as true for families struggling with diabulimia. By weaving current research with her daughter’s story, the author creates a narrative that is both informative and captivating. The book is a very straight forward telling of their journey together – it is neither doom and gloom nor rainbows and false hope. Because of this than reader can trust what she says. I especially appreciate the honest nature Ms. Brown exhibits in talking about her anger, her doubts and her mistakes. Having been down this road myself, the book feels very authentic. Note: Ms. Brown has a bit of a bias toward family based therapy (FBT) which works well for many patients, but every person is different so every treatment plan will be different. (Reviewed by D.L.A.)
Needles by Andie Dominick
Andie Dominick is a diabetic diagnosed at age nine, Needles is the story of her journey from the initial Diagnosis, through Junior High, High School, College and Dating and eventual Marriage. Diagnosed before the era of small drop meters and disposable needles, Andie went through an introduction to the disease even more complicated and intrusive than that experienced by my own children. Andie had to live through finding her sister’s body who died from poor diabetes management and cocaine abuse. Andie herself used insulin restriction to lose weight and suffered early complications like retinopathy. She eventually met a partner who was willing to learn about the disease and how it affects the Diabetic and their relationships and she was able to tell her story as both advice and warning. As a parent I read Needles with a certain relief that Diabetics today have it “easier” contrasted with a certain fear and almost panic that any of my children could have gone down the road that Andie did, or worse that of Denise. I am grateful that I didn’t have to walk in the same footsteps have Andie’s parents, and a little guilty I didn’t fight as hard as they did for their daughters. (Reviewed by S.A.)
Andie Dominick is a diabetic diagnosed at age nine, Needles is the story of her journey from the initial Diagnosis, through Junior High, High School, College and Dating and eventual Marriage. Diagnosed before the era of small drop meters and disposable needles, Andie went through an introduction to the disease even more complicated and intrusive than that experienced by my own children. Andie had to live through finding her sister’s body who died from poor diabetes management and cocaine abuse. Andie herself used insulin restriction to lose weight and suffered early complications like retinopathy. She eventually met a partner who was willing to learn about the disease and how it affects the Diabetic and their relationships and she was able to tell her story as both advice and warning. As a parent I read Needles with a certain relief that Diabetics today have it “easier” contrasted with a certain fear and almost panic that any of my children could have gone down the road that Andie did, or worse that of Denise. I am grateful that I didn’t have to walk in the same footsteps have Andie’s parents, and a little guilty I didn’t fight as hard as they did for their daughters. (Reviewed by S.A.)
Dear Ashley by Don Blackwell
I was given Dear Ashley by my daughter, a wonderful young woman in recovery from an eating disorder and asked to read and then write this review. It took me a long time to read through this relatively short book, but I am extremely glad I did. Don writes the book as a series of letters to his daughter Ashley who is working her way first through her eating disorder and later through the long struggle of her recovery. It is neither preachy, or hyper technical, but a valiant attempt to show his daughter, and the world, that the struggle of dealing with the eating disorder is worth it, that all of the work, the pain, the tears and the fights are in the end worth it. Each chapter deals with a real world, or fictional accounting of someone who hasn’t given up on some struggle in his life, and then concludes with Don’s ‘letter to Ashley’ talking to her as both his daughter and as his friend. I mentioned earlier that it took a long time to read the book, as after each chapter I had to stop, and deal with my own emotions and how my daughter and I dealt with her struggle. But in the end, reading the book through like being there for my daughter was worth it. The books underlying message: “It gets better, and your loved one is worth it." (Reviewed D.L.A.)
I was given Dear Ashley by my daughter, a wonderful young woman in recovery from an eating disorder and asked to read and then write this review. It took me a long time to read through this relatively short book, but I am extremely glad I did. Don writes the book as a series of letters to his daughter Ashley who is working her way first through her eating disorder and later through the long struggle of her recovery. It is neither preachy, or hyper technical, but a valiant attempt to show his daughter, and the world, that the struggle of dealing with the eating disorder is worth it, that all of the work, the pain, the tears and the fights are in the end worth it. Each chapter deals with a real world, or fictional accounting of someone who hasn’t given up on some struggle in his life, and then concludes with Don’s ‘letter to Ashley’ talking to her as both his daughter and as his friend. I mentioned earlier that it took a long time to read the book, as after each chapter I had to stop, and deal with my own emotions and how my daughter and I dealt with her struggle. But in the end, reading the book through like being there for my daughter was worth it. The books underlying message: “It gets better, and your loved one is worth it." (Reviewed D.L.A.)
Father Hunger by Dr. Margo Maine
Father Hunger written in 1991, has useful information some 26 years later though focuses only on those females suffering from Eating Disorders, only mentioning males in passing. The central premise of the book is that the disconnect between fathers and daughters while growing up is one of the major causes of Eating Disorders. The logic is that our society has conditioned fathers to not be nurturing in raising their children, and that daughters and mothers are conditioned to be the social nurturers of the family unit. With our rapidly changing society, with mothers working, and sexual mores changing almost daily, fathers do not know how to interact with their daughters when they reach puberty so react by distancing themselves. Our daughters then react by acting out, or seeking control with anything available to get daddy’s attention. This sometimes includes behaviors that lead to Eating Disorders. The book ends with suggestions and checklists for Fathers, Daughters, Mothers, and professional Care Givers to encourage the breaking of the above mentioned paradigm, allowing more nurturing by the fathers, feeding the Father Hunger of the Daughter, and helping the entire family unit be more open and interactive. As a father of a recovered Daughter, I saw a lot of myself in the book, and had to overcome some initial guilt driven resentment to finish the book, take its suggestions to heart, and place it in my repertoire of resources in working with my daughter and her recovery. (Reviewed by S.A)
Father Hunger written in 1991, has useful information some 26 years later though focuses only on those females suffering from Eating Disorders, only mentioning males in passing. The central premise of the book is that the disconnect between fathers and daughters while growing up is one of the major causes of Eating Disorders. The logic is that our society has conditioned fathers to not be nurturing in raising their children, and that daughters and mothers are conditioned to be the social nurturers of the family unit. With our rapidly changing society, with mothers working, and sexual mores changing almost daily, fathers do not know how to interact with their daughters when they reach puberty so react by distancing themselves. Our daughters then react by acting out, or seeking control with anything available to get daddy’s attention. This sometimes includes behaviors that lead to Eating Disorders. The book ends with suggestions and checklists for Fathers, Daughters, Mothers, and professional Care Givers to encourage the breaking of the above mentioned paradigm, allowing more nurturing by the fathers, feeding the Father Hunger of the Daughter, and helping the entire family unit be more open and interactive. As a father of a recovered Daughter, I saw a lot of myself in the book, and had to overcome some initial guilt driven resentment to finish the book, take its suggestions to heart, and place it in my repertoire of resources in working with my daughter and her recovery. (Reviewed by S.A)
Next to Nothing by Carrie Arnold with B. Timothy Walsh, MD
This book is one of the products of the 2003 Adolescent Mental Health Initiative. It is part memoir and part medical guide outlining what is known and what is not known about anorexia and bulimia. By weaving narrative with medical facts, the authors offer a lot of information in an easy to read format. I found most useful the sections describing various types of therapy, the ups and downs of recovery and the tips on what family and friends should do or not do. The primary author is a recovering anorexic so the narrative tends to focus more on that disorder. Nevertheless, if you or a loved one has been recently diagnosed with an eating disorder, this book provides a solid overview from causes to diagnosis to treatment plans. (Reviewed by D.L.A.)
This book is one of the products of the 2003 Adolescent Mental Health Initiative. It is part memoir and part medical guide outlining what is known and what is not known about anorexia and bulimia. By weaving narrative with medical facts, the authors offer a lot of information in an easy to read format. I found most useful the sections describing various types of therapy, the ups and downs of recovery and the tips on what family and friends should do or not do. The primary author is a recovering anorexic so the narrative tends to focus more on that disorder. Nevertheless, if you or a loved one has been recently diagnosed with an eating disorder, this book provides a solid overview from causes to diagnosis to treatment plans. (Reviewed by D.L.A.)
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