From Virtue to Vice
Negotiating Anorexia
Richard A. O'Connor, Penny Van Esterik
- 252 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
From Virtue to Vice
Negotiating Anorexia
Richard A. O'Connor, Penny Van Esterik
About This Book
The recovered possess the key to overcoming anorexia. Although individual sufferers do not know how the affliction takes hold, piecing their stories together reveals two accidental afflictions. One is that activity disordersâdieting, exercising, healthy eatingâstart as virtuous practices, but become addictive obsessions. The other affliction is a developmental disorder, which also starts with the virtuousâthose eager for challenge and change. But these overachievers who seek self-improvement get a distorted life instead. Knowing anorexia from inside, the recovered offer two watchwords on helping those who suffer. One is "negotiate, " to encourage compromise, which can aid recovery where coercion fails. The other is "balance, " for the ill to pursue mind-with-body activities to defuse mind-over-body battles.