The Long Road Back: A Survivor's Guide to Anorexia

by Judy Tam Sargent

"Today, I see the link between my feelings of craziness and loss of control over my own life and my need to place rigid restraints on my weight and eating.

"When other areas of my life felt out of control, there was always one thing I knew I could control. My weight and eating became the focus of my life, and all of my other troubles were forgotten -- at least temporarily."

From The Long Road Back: A Survivor's Guide to Anorexia

Each year, in the United States alone, thousands die of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, which carries the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. To make matters worse, it is some of our brightest and best young people (more than 90 percent of them females) whose lives are lost to this insidious illness.

Anorexia is characterized by a refusal to maintain a minimally normal body weight. The individual suffering from it is intensely afraid of gaining weight, and has a distorted perception of the size and shape of his or her body. Unless there is successful intervention and treatment, the anorexic may die of starvation, suicide, or electrolyte imbalance.

In THE LONG ROAD BACK, Judy Sargent tells the story of her ten-year struggle with anorexia, which began to manifest when she was thirteen. As it progressed, the disease repeatedly brought her weight to life-threatening lows of less than seventy pounds.

Now completely recovered, and pursuing a career as a clinical nurse specialist, Sargent details in this book her return to health and a normal life. She writes with an honesty, humor, and insight that make her fascinating and harrowing story all the more absorbing. Young people afflicted with eating disorders (and those who love them) will find hope, inspiration, and valid advice in these pages.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

Judy Tam Sargent is a psychiatric-mental health nurse whose journey has been shaped by both personal and academic resilience. Born in Pennsylvania in 1968, she faced early challenges, including the loss of her twin brother to autism and her own struggle with anorexia. Despite these hardships, she excelled academically, graduating at the top of her high school class, though she was unable to attend her own graduation due to hospitalization.
Undeterred, she went on to graduate Summa Cum Laude from a Catholic women’s college before earning her Master of Science in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing from the University of Michigan. Outside of her professional pursuits, she finds joy in the outdoors—camping, flower gardening, ice-skating, and cross-country skiing—as well as in music, playing the violin.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sargent's choppy writing style lacks the fluidity needed to sustain interest. Like many authors she spends a good deal of time describing how it was then skips rapidly to how it is now leaving me full of questions. What changed? What was the catalyst for her improved eating habits? What did she use as motivation during her struggles? Furthermore, what were her struggles? On the plus side, because Sargent does not give details regarding weight or specific food and exercise habits this book is less likely to be triggering for readers addressing disordered eating issues of their own.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Informative

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I do adore this book on anorexia, I think it's probably quite the triggering book for those struggling with the disease, as the author does reveal all the little tips and tricks she used to fool people along the way.

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I read on anorexia, this is not one for the anorexic herself (too triggering)