Feeding the empty heart: Adult children and compulsive eating

by Barbara McFarland, Tyeis Baker Baumann, Tyeis Baker-Baumann

Many children who grew up in alcoholic families attempt to cope with the pain through behaviors which are potentially addictive. Feeding The Empty Heart not only offers an understanding of the problem of eating disorders in adult children of alcoholics, it also outlines effective treatment options, describes the recovery process and shares personal stories that make poignantly clear the struggles - and rewards - that lie along the way to recovery.

Genres: Self Help

106 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in 1988, so it is a bit dated, especially when talking about gender roles but it was still very valid and informative. It talks about the correlation between adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) and eating disorders. It is very common for children of alcoholics to develop eating disorders. It concludes with advice to join Overeaters Anonymous and work a 12 step program but I was surprised to find that OA doesn't require abstinence from certain food groups (such as your binge foods or refined sugar) as I had been told it did (by a counselor no less) but to live with the abstinence of binging, weighing yourself, counting calories, dieting, and the like. This is also required by non 12 step recovery programs; at least the one I have been through. I recommend this book to anyone who has an eating disorder and also came from a family of origin with an alcoholic/addict in that family.