Helping People with Eating Disorders: A Clinical Guide to Assessment and Treatment

Bob Palmer

John Wiley and Sons, £17.99, pp 286

ISBN 0 471 98647 X

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Rating:

Written primarily for doctors working in multidisciplinary services for eating disorders, this book's small size belies its breadth and depth. The author has managed to be concise but also comprehensive, readable and also accurate.

The book provides a thorough guide to assessing and treating anorexia and bulimia. In addition, it gives useful background information on the history of the eating disorders. Palmer combines fact and anecdote to good effect. He states clearly throughout whether his statements are based on research evidence, clinical judgment, or personal opinion. With regard to specific treatments, the approach is broadly eclectic, and deficiencies in the evidence base are dealt with honestly.

The chapter on service configuration would have been enhanced by some discussion of whether inpatient services still have a place or whether the assertive outreach model will be shown to have more to offer. Although doctors working with young adolescents will certainly find the book very helpful, it does not cover all the issues affecting child and adolescent patients.

I was impressed by Palmer's simple and compelling explanations of technical matters. For example, he does not say that most anorexics are ambivalent about their weight; instead he writes that “the usual experience seems to be one involving knowing that the body is thin and having a variable feeling of fatness that exists alongside.” This certainly rings true for most of my patients. Indeed, Palmer's combination of simplicity and accuracy is so compelling that I will be recommending this book not only to my clinical colleagues but also to some of my patients and their parents.