Customer Reviews

The Long Road Back, A Survivors Guide to Anorexia

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

While in a treatment program for anorexia, I read this book hoping that it would be an inspirational tale of Sargent's recovery from this possessing disease. While the book was a definite page-turner full of feelings and situations I could completely relate to, it unfortunately lacked adequate explanation of her path to recovery.

All in all, I think this is a great book for family members or friends who want to understand the mind of an anorexic however, I would not reccommend it to sufferers looking for answers or guidance.

As an anorexic of several years, I was deeply affected by this book's account of another's suffering with the same disease. I alternately cried and was filled with anger by the descriptions of the often barbaric "treatments" the author was forced to endure. I have been in such treatment centers, where the people who are supposed to be helping instead make patients feel less than human, by watching them eat as if it were a circus sideshow and referring to them by numbers instead of names. These people think that the only thing an anorexic has to do to get better is to eat and gain weight, and that's it. Wrong, wrong, wrong, as this book shows, and it's high time people started realizing it. No one starves herself to make someone else suffer, or as a way of getting what she wants. Anorexia is a terrible, terrible disease that makes you want to just die. If you know someone who's suffering from this hell of a disease, treat that person with the utmost love, respect and compassion. Read this book to help you understand: No one CHOOSES to be anorexic, and no matter how many times the anorexic says, "Leave me alone, I'm fine," she really does want help, deep down. It just has to be the right kind of help.

Sargent herself identifies the key to the story of her struggle against anorexia: "Probably the most important turning point in my recovery was my decision to become an active participant in the process." The truth in this proactive perspective of personal responsibility is all the more intensified by a history of being subjected to unenlightened hospitalizations that seemed bent on robbing her of all dignity as the means to a purely mechanical process of weight restoration. Without excusing the cruelty and destructiveness of those treatment programs, Sargent's description of her descent into the hell of anorexia makes it clear that the worst abuse she suffered came from the torment of the eating disorder itself, that the toughest struggle was not against the medical system but against the suffocating embrace of the python anorexia. I found myself regretting not having been at the meeting just before her college graduation where, finally gaining freedom from the negativity and shame of her past, she proclaims, "Just remember that you have the ability to achieve anything you set your mind to."

Like a well-rounded, nutritious meal, Sargent supplements her personal account with tender poems written by her sister, a message from her mother, and an appendix stocked with astute practical advice on dealing with eating disorders. She dreams of directing profits from the sale of this book toward the founding of an eating disorder treatment center. If I had the means, I would put this book in every high school and college library, as much to aid her quest as to make her wisdom as broadly accessible as possible.

I've never written an on-line review before but felt compelled - this book was a huge disappointment in many ways. It was poorly written, even had grammatical errors, and never explained how she attained her successful "recovery". Wish I could get my money back.

I highly recommend this book to all! I believe it will help other sufferers realize they are not alone and help family and friends to have a better understanding of the struggles involved. I believe the insights into her hospitalizations will also help give medical personnel a new outlook on the treatment of their patients. Best of luck on your book!

"The Long Road Back: A Survivor's Guide to Anorexia," is an autobiographical account of my ten-year battle with anorexia nervosa. I wrote the book with the hope that it would give individuals currently suffering from anorexia (and other eating disorders) insight, courage, and hope. An eating disorder need not be a life sentence. People do recover and go on to lead happy, healthy, full lives. In my account, I've shared words of wisdom and details of my own recovery process with the hope that others may benefit from my insight.

This book is not just for current or past anorexic, but for everyone who has some serious setbacks in their lives. It is a true testament to the ultimate human fighting spirit. As far as anorexia is concerned, I find this book a real eye-opener to the many flaws of the mental health system where the doctors and nurses seem to be just as obessed with the patients gaining the weight, as the patients with losing it. I could not put this book down oce I started reading it. It left me wondering how Ms(?) Sargent is still alive today. It is even more amazing that not only she is leading a normal life, but she is only excelling in her career and her true passion of figure skating. It is a matter of time unil this gem is made into a movie.

Stacy Evrard I had a chance to read this book, months ago. When I opened it up, I could have sworn that one of the pictures was of me. I was moved by the similarities between Judy, and I. It was well written, and it's impression on me was great. Someday, I too will recover, until then I will always remember that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Great Job Judy! You are a true insperation, and I hope you know that you are an angel. Wear your wings with pride. Stacy Evrard

The book was amazing. I couldn't put it down! Judy's bravery to overcome her terrible struggle with her eating disorder is astounding. Then to take it a step further and write this wonderful book, so that others might benefit and overcome their own, leaves me speechless. I give thanks to her mother for sharing with other parents her wisdom found throughout her daughter's illness. This is a rare gift indeed. Judy, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving hope to parents like myself, who have a daughter still caught in the throes of this illness. I am eternally grateful!

Sargent writes a passionate account of her battle with anorexia. She comes forth shining and gives others the hope that sustained her through her 'dark night of the soul'. She is truly an inspiration for anyone suffering with any eating disorder, compulsive eating included. A beautifully written and carefully detailed book.