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How to Save Your Own Life
There are a thousand books about eating disorders, taking everything from gender to age into account. But they have a habit of assuming that you're neurotypical, and that your brain works in a very specific way.
Not exactly helpful if yours doesn't!
In this essential self-help guide, Rachel Clark shares what she's learned from her own experiences as an autistic and ADHD young person with anorexia, and how you can use it for your own recovery. She explores how eating disorders can be a coping mechanism for the stress of a neurotypical world, and how autism can both create the ideal environment for an eating disorder to develop, but also provide key tools to overcome it. Practical exercises help you get to grips with your ED in a way that suits your brain, and advice from direct experience supports you in advocating for yourself and creating an environment where you can save your own life on your own terms.
Not exactly helpful if yours doesn't!
In this essential self-help guide, Rachel Clark shares what she's learned from her own experiences as an autistic and ADHD young person with anorexia, and how you can use it for your own recovery. She explores how eating disorders can be a coping mechanism for the stress of a neurotypical world, and how autism can both create the ideal environment for an eating disorder to develop, but also provide key tools to overcome it. Practical exercises help you get to grips with your ED in a way that suits your brain, and advice from direct experience supports you in advocating for yourself and creating an environment where you can save your own life on your own terms.
192 pages, Paperback
Published April 21, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 25, 2026
How to Save Your Own Life examines the overlap between autism and eating disorders without treating autism as the issue that needs fixing.
The author makes a clear distinction between autistic needs and eating disorder behaviors. She explains that for some autistic individuals, an eating disorder isn’t about body image but about control, survival, routine, escape, and coping with a world that isn’t accessible. The goal isn’t just to stop the behaviors but to understand their purpose and address the underlying needs so those behaviors are no longer necessary.
The book also highlights how treatment can fail when clinicians focus only on surface-level behaviors and overlook the individual. It discusses how clinical care can feel dehumanizing. The risks of removing an eating disorder can be catastrophic without addressing the need that the disordered eating met. The author writes from personal experience but avoids presenting her story as universally applicable, which strengthens the book’s credibility.
It balances personal narrative with factual information about starvation, nutrition, exercise, and the physical effects of eating disorders. This combination keeps the argument grounded and the writing clear and precise.
This isn’t a clinical or research-focused book, so it may not suit readers looking for that approach. But as an exploration of how autism and eating disorders intersect, it’s insightful and fills a gap in the ND conversation that has been ignored.
The author makes a clear distinction between autistic needs and eating disorder behaviors. She explains that for some autistic individuals, an eating disorder isn’t about body image but about control, survival, routine, escape, and coping with a world that isn’t accessible. The goal isn’t just to stop the behaviors but to understand their purpose and address the underlying needs so those behaviors are no longer necessary.
The book also highlights how treatment can fail when clinicians focus only on surface-level behaviors and overlook the individual. It discusses how clinical care can feel dehumanizing. The risks of removing an eating disorder can be catastrophic without addressing the need that the disordered eating met. The author writes from personal experience but avoids presenting her story as universally applicable, which strengthens the book’s credibility.
It balances personal narrative with factual information about starvation, nutrition, exercise, and the physical effects of eating disorders. This combination keeps the argument grounded and the writing clear and precise.
This isn’t a clinical or research-focused book, so it may not suit readers looking for that approach. But as an exploration of how autism and eating disorders intersect, it’s insightful and fills a gap in the ND conversation that has been ignored.
May 3, 2026
How to Save Your Own Life by Rachel Clark is a welcome addition to the books on eating disorders. In a candid style, the author provides a much-needed perspective on eating disorders and the neurodivergent/autistic brain. Vulnerably sharing her own experiences, Clark implores those battling with eating disorders to find much-deserved help while providing information that she wished she had during her own recovery process. I highly recommend anyone working with teens, especially those with autism or exhibiting any kinds of food issues, to read this book. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an advanced ebook copy from NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers in exchange for my honest review.
April 30, 2026
A must-have guide for anyone looking for a glimpse of hope, and the reassurance that however impossible things may seem, someone believes in you. Thank you Rachel for writing this gift of a book that I’m sure will bring comfort to so many ❤️.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews