Bones: Anorexia, OCD, and Me

Bones is a candid account of life with crippling anorexia and OCD and survival against all odds. This true story explores the complex interaction between nature and nurture that leads to Jen’s talent for self-destruction.

The all-consuming obsessions that surface in Jen’s early childhood make anorexia seem like an escape from the torture of constant compulsions. Anorexia’s seduction leads to a dark freefall into an underworld of bingeing and purging, end-stage starvation, bankruptcy, and career implosion.

Bones follows Jen into the abyss, where anorexia no longer keeps the compulsions at bay but instead fuels them, turning her into a neurotic young woman held hostage by her now-entrenched diseases.

Bones is a story of suffering and survival, but devoid of self-pity and attenuated with a dry sense of humor. It is an uncensored account of the gritty and sometimes repulsive aspects of mental illness that get less exposure than the more socially acceptable symptoms. Anyone who wants to read a survivor story, has a loved one struggling with mental illness, or seeks to avoid the pitfalls themselves will find Bones a delicious read.