My Kid Is Back: Empowering Parents To Beat Anorexia Nervosa

Description

Early intervention with family-based treatment can greatly reduce the severity of anorexia nervosa in children and adolescents. The best outcome is for those whose illness is intervened within six months. Ten families are this book's voice, and they lift the lid on what living with anorexia is really like. Parents describe their frustrations in seeking help for their child and sufferers describe this illness that slips into the brain and becomes part of one's self. The book describes the history of anorexia nervosa, its effect on the sufferer and the family, the development of the Maudsley Approach and ongoing research. It lists illness symptoms, strategies for parents and carers to follow, and where to go for treatment and support, and will appeal to families everywhere who find themselves caught up in the anorexic nightmare.

Author description

June Alexander was a journalist, columnist and sub-editor for more than thirty years. Besides newspaper work, she has written several books. At 11 years of age, she developed anorexia nervosa, and subsequently developed bulimia. Both illnesses were undiagnosed, and therefore untreated, for 21 years. June now lives on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, in Victoria. Professor Daniel le Grange, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, Section for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Director of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. He trained in family-based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa at the Maudsley Hospital in London, where he was a member of the team that developed the Maudsley Approach as a treatment for early-onset anorexia nervosa. He is co-author of several books, and was elected fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) in 2002. He is also a member of the Eating Disorders Research Society and serves on the clinical and scientific advisory council of the National Eating Disorders Association.