ABSTRACT
The introduction explains that this book addresses the medical complications of eating disorders and is written for patients, their families, and eating disorder clinicians. I discuss how I became inspired by my sister’s battle with bulimia nervosa and how I subsequently became knowledgeable about this field through my clinical experience as a leader of the ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders at Denver Health and my work founding an outpatient clinic solely devoted to the medical care of people with eating disorders, the Gaudiani Clinic. Eating disorders are life-threatening mental illnesses. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa as well as atypical eating disorders in patients who are not underweight carry high mortality and suicide rates. Individuals with binge eating disorder may be missed or even harmed due to size stigma. Despite these facts, many patients feel they aren’t “sick enough” to merit treatment or an alteration in behaviors. Few doctors specialize in eating disorders. I discuss the layout of the book and define certain terms that I will use throughout, such as the “singular they,” “values,” “soul,” “cisgender,” and “eating disorder voice.”
