Dying to Please : Anorexia Nervosa and Its Cure Book

This is a personal and comprehensive account of the symptoms, causes and treatments of the life-threatening disorder, anorexia nervosa. The author, a recovered anorexic, draws upon her own life experience with the disorder and with treatment, and has combined this with extensive research. Avis Rumney explores the cultural and family origins of anorexia, and anorexic's characteristic problems—perfectionism, competition, body image, sexuality and fear of growing up. The criteria for curing anorexia are given and several forms of treatment are compared, including psychotherapy, behavior modification, drug therapy and family therapy. The transactional analysis–oriented program in which the author was cured is described, as is her own model for the treatment of anorexia nervosa.