Stories I Tell My Patients ― 101 Myths, Metaphors, Fables and Tall Tales for Eating Disorders Recovery

Stories I Tell My Patients” by Arnold Andersen, MD has been an intermittent feature inEating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention from 1993 to 2015. The complete set of 101 stories is collected here in one volume for the first time. Combining myth, metaphor, fable, tall tale, and inventive fantasy, they were originally intended for professionals treating eating disorders to read and share with their clients, though they can also be read and appreciated by individuals in recovery and their loved ones.
An eclectic mix, Arnold’s stories are both entertaining and insightful. Some are vaguely familiarwith his own peculiar interpretationssuch as the retelling of The Emperor Has No Clothes” or Faustian deals with the devil; and, Jack and Jill appear, but instead of rolling down a hill, they are canoeing down a rapid river. There are knights in shining armor, time machines, intergalactic travelers, stories derived from Greek mythology, anorexic saints of the 16th century, and current events (a few of which may seem dated, like Hurricane Floyd or top baseball salaries of five million dollars). Most of the stories sprang from Arnold’s imagination, and many were inspired by his direct interactions with patients. He introduces such characters as Tom, Dick, and Harry going camping, Muffy and Buffy sitting in judgment, and Clip and Clop plowing a field. Inanimate objects such as buoys and thermometers carry on conversations, and descriptions of Paris reflect the author’s love of that beautiful city.
Storytelling is not meant ultimately to cure eating disorders, but rather to get attention, to convey an idea, to instill a seed, to shake a complacency. No matter how old we get, we can relate to roses and bike trips, shadows and catsup.

Arnold Andersen is a professor emeritus from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and an adjunct lecturer at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Andersen is the world's leading authority on eating disorders in men. For more than 20 years he was the director of the eating disorders program at the University of Iowa College of Medicine and a professor of psychiatry. In addition to treating patients and teaching, he has written several texts and has contributed more than 200 articles in scientific publications. He has also lectured widely to medical and psychological groups worldwide. Dr. Andersen has appeared on a number of national television programs in which he has discussed eating disorders, and he has been quoted in numerous publications, includingThe Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and The New York Times. He lives in Iowa City, IA.

Leigh Cohn is the publisher of Gurze Books, the editor in chief of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, and the coauthor of more than a dozen books, including two on eating disorders and males, Making Weight (2000) andCurrent Findings on Males and Eating Disorders (2014), and the first book on bulimia in 1980. He has spoken on at professional conferences and universities throughout North America, and he has received awards from the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals, the Eating Disorders Coalition, and the National Eating Disorders Association, of which he is a member of the Founders Council. He is currently the president of the National Association for Males with Eating Disorders. He lives in Carlsbad, CA.