“Skinny boy: A young man’s battle and triumph over Anorexia” is an autobiographical book by Gary A. Grahl, which depicts the struggles of an athletic and popular young man over the internal doubt and perception of his weight in the eyes of himself and others. Grahl suffered from anorexia in his youth, and the book is a memoir-like account of the event, serving to open the door to the psychology of the disease in the male populace – a vulnerable population subgroup that is frequently ignored in scientific accounts (Murray et al., 2017). The author’s account of his suffering is very personal and disturbing, seeking to awake the world to a problem millions of men around the world suffer every day.
The book is split into three parts, the first one describing the family dynamics and the underlying motivations behind Gary’s efforts to become thinner, the second part is his attendance the Unit 13 while trying to hide one’s illness from doctors to get out quicker, and the final parts dedicated to his overcoming of the inner voice through patience and unconditional love and acceptance received from the nurses and doctors (Grahl, 2007).
The book starts with the disease already being inside of the young boy’s mind, constantly berating him, demanding more exercise, and less eating. His anorexia is demonstrated through the skewered perceptions of one’s own body – at 5’8”, Gary weighs around 110 pounds, which is 40 pounds below the normal BMI for an individual of his height and age (Grahl, 2007). In his mind, the loss of weight is somehow connected to pleasing his parents, which is perceived as a duty.
During the hospital visits, the struggles between Gary and the inner voice of anorexia become more prominent. The voice seeks to undermine his efforts and cast the doctors in a bad light by commenting on their perceived slights. It seeks to portray others as insane, with Gary being the only same person around. Initially, it succeeds, driving the boy deeper into his anxiety, resulting in his hospitalization. The boy seeks to stealthily undermine the progress made by the doctors by performing stealth exercises, acting cooperatively when observed, and staying quiet during group therapy sessions (Grahl, 2007).
The real breakthrough occurs only when Gary regains his voice, which is done through the support of parents, nurses, and other members of his therapy group. He begins to question the twisted logic of the voice inside of his head, contradict it, and dedicate more time to living his life in full, rather than following the bizarre agenda of anorexia inside of his head (Grahl, 2007). By the end of the book, Gary feels that the voice is all but gone, but is still anxious and aware that it might return, and readies himself for the challenges that lie ahead (Grahl, 2007).
The book’s main strength in helping the audience understand addictive behavior lies in the visceral account of the psychological mechanisms inside of the afflicted person’s mind. It allows the readers to feel themselves in the skin of the person that has Anorexia, and understand the logic behind it, however strange and outlandish it may be. The fact that the author experienced the disease first-hand offers credibility to his statements.
At the same time, there are a few weaknesses to the book. First, it does not cover the birth of the disease inside of the person’s mind – the chronology of the first chapter starts well into the later stages of the affliction and does not demonstrate the appearance and growing influence of the voice. The events that led to it are not sufficiently covered either. Finally, the second half of the book does not seem like an honest accounting of one’s feelings during treatment, as it borrows directly from self-help books on the subject. This contrasts with the overall picture Grahl tried to paint and breaks the immersion. Nevertheless, it is one of the best accounts of male anorexia currently available in the literature.
References
Grahl, G. A. (2007). Skinny boy: A young man’s battle and triumph over Anorexia. Clearfield, UT: American Legacy Media.
Murray, S. B., Nagata, J. M., Griffiths, S., Calzo, J. P., Brown, T. A., Mitchison, D.,… & Mond, J. M. (2017). The enigma of male eating disorders: A critical review and synthesis. Clinical Psychology Review, 57, 1-11.