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Reviews of BINGE CRAZY!
“A very thoughtful and honest examination of a personal story to understand better how BED evolves and can be helped. The book provides good advice, practical tips and hope to people who experience pain and suffering.” — Dr. Paul Garfinkel, former CEO CAMH, Professor of Psychiatry, Staff Psychiatrist Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto
“Binge Crazy is a rich autobiographical account of Natalie Gold’s journey through the throws of a lifelong struggle with emotional instability and disordered eating. She gives a phenomenological account of her family of origin; illustrating how dysfunctional family dynamics can numb emotional states and promote binging behaviour. She describes how overeating was, in part, an escape hatch from being trapped by an hysterical mother. She touches on many layers of a complex issue; the societal impact, especially in the 50-60s, when next to nothing was known about the etiology of eating disorders. Natalie’s experience of being incarcerated in a mental institute, the Clarke, is ironically both funny, and positive, although she is helped by a few staff, she was not truly ‘seen’, or understood by most. She highlights this fact with transcripts of her clinical records from that time. She poignantly describes her relationships with other ‘inmates’, and the comeraderie she experienced.Ultimately it is her journey in finding her feet beneath her, of rendering herself visible after being so deeply invisible. Natalie holds the belief that ‘compulsions’ are never really cured – but rather managed. Some clinicians would argue there. The word that come to mind in reading this account is ‘raw,’ it is not a polished rendition, or analysis; it is more one woman’s courageous journey to understand herself in the multifaceted context of her upbringing and use that understanding in her work as a clinician today. For Natalie a 12-step approach to healing worked. This is a view that tends to reduce EDs to addictions. She appreciates however, that this is one, but not the only, lens, to look at the meaning of disordered eating. Her book is peppered with clinical insights, some I would agree with, others not – but this is what makes psychotherapy an art, — we are attempting to understand our clients’ subjective experience, just as Natalie has come to make sense of her own.” — Kali Hewitt-Black, RP
“When I finished reading Binge Crazy I felt like I had been on a roller coaster with many steep drops and hairpin turns. Natalie’s breath-taking candor about her struggles with her family relationships, her weight and herself was matched by her generous sharing of the ups and downs during her many years of valiant efforts to heal. I recognized myself in some aspects of her story and that is the power of real storytellers. We are reminded that we are not alone in this experience of being human.” — Toronto psychotherapist
A valuable book for the terrible disease of food addiction. This is a very well-written and compelling book. I have been in the field of food addiction for 20 years with 10 years before that of various therapies to try to reduce my irritability. I’ve done a lot of personal work. So I was surprised and pleased to gain insight into the dynamics of my own family of origin from this book. One of the reasons I think this book is so good is that the author is a psychotherapist. To me, this means that she has developed and tracked important themes from the all-encompassing disease of food addiction. The book shows the particular devastation of judgement and profound misunderstanding of the nature of the disease as a mental illness. It also shows how inept treatment can make the disease worse. It could be a manual for what not to do as the parent of a food addict. I’m glad that Natalie Gold finally found appropriate treatment and recovered to write this book. – Joan Ifland, amazon.com
“I found it very moving and insightful with great detail on the inner experience and struggles. It is candid and courageous and speaks to the complexity of eating disorders. The many tips and tools offered the reader are a gift. Thanks for writing this – very thorough – a huge endeavour!” — Annette Bradshaw, MA, RP
Insightful and detailed book discussing food addiction and mental illness. This book would be particularly helpful for individuals suffering from childhood trauma and family dysfunction. In Binge Crazy, Natalie demonstrates how these situations lead to eating disorders. Natalie gets to the heart of the matter discussing the importance of “dealing with the pain at its source.” It became evident to me when reading the book that I have spent years not dealing with past pain/trauma and therefore it has “resulted in living only a half-life.” Natalie offers multiple examples-physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual-on how she came to work through her food addiction and binge eating. Again, I’d highly recommend this book. Natalie, thank you for sharing your story and shedding light on the subject of food addiction and mental health. – Shelly Higdon, amazon.com
Frighteningly honest account of a lifelong struggle with mental health issues in general and Binge Eating Disorder in particular. The writing is honest but not especially elegant, but the truth of the story makes up for this. – John Davidson, amazon.com
“Natalie Gold’s Binge Crazy is a touching and honest portrayal of her journey through the mental health system and the tenacity with which she faces her past. Bravo to a therapist who is unafraid to remind us that the most painful lies are the ones we tell ourselves. As a social worker I applaud her understanding of eating disorders and mental illness, which she carefully and at times humorously weaves against the background of her relationships with family, friends and the mental health system itself. I am humbled by her courage to be authentic and would highly recommend her memoir to clients and professionals who would like an intimate view of a patient’s difficult but always worthwhile road to healing. – Angela Townsend, MSW, RSW
Binge Crazy is a powerful read for anyone who has a food addiction. The reader can track the mental anguish the author experienced as a food addict, at a time when very little was about about food addictions and their correlation to mental illness. We see how she persevered to try to understand her negative emotions surrounding her family of origin. By becoming a psychotherapist, the author is able to help others through both personal experience and years of therapy and studies. She also injects a fair bit of humour into her story, enabling a healing of the whole person. The end of the book ties together beautifully the essentials of the author’s own healing process. And she provides a practical appendix of underlying trigger issues related to all types of addictive behaviour. Overall, this book is incredibly honest, well-written, and highly informative. – TG, amazon.com
“Binge Crazy indeed! I binge read this book!! Beautifully written. Following Natalie’s journey was a compelling experience. Funny, heartwarming, bittersweet, instructive, hopeful, triumphant! A great read that provides insight into compulsive eating, the search for physical perfection and the deeper meaning behind it.” — A. Peer, Toronto
“Natalie’s story teaches us how her suffering as a child translated into the deep suffering of her eating disorder. Her feisty and witty personality makes for a vivid narration of her long pathway to recovery. This is a very worthwhile read for anyone who would like to deepen their understanding of food addiction.”
-– Nancy Christie, Psychotherapist
A very forthright account of the struggle to understand and live with binge eating, with some good advice on how to overcome it. We need more people to come forward and talk about this. – Vicky Yelton, amazon.com
“Natalie Gold’s book belongs to the genre of “wounded healers” — memoirs describing a person’s decline into addiction and mental illness and their subsequent journey towards healing, and then on to become a therapist treating others …the author suffered from severe binge eating disorder, obesity, depression, a psychotic breakdown, and suicidal behavior … Ms. Gold winds up in a Canadian psychiatric hospital and recounts in detail her 10 months there. What is original here is that Ms. Gold was able to access her hospital records from that time … and includes them in the book with her own commentaries. Fortunately, Ms. Gold eventually becomes a singer and musician which gives her another identity beyond her eating disorder and, most importantly, she discovers a 12 Step program … and learns that she is a sugar addict … Discovering her personal higher power helps to cement her ongoing recovery and she continues her journey by becoming a Gestalt therapist and addiction specialist. Ms. Gold provides an appendix that illuminates the underlying physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and sociocultural issues which will help readers become more aware of their own personal vulnerabilities.” – Mary Anne Cohen, Director of The New York Center for Eating Disorders and book reviewer for EdReferral.com
This book is so funny, it’s really about relationships, I love to read life from her point of view. Great Book – amazon.ca customer
Excellent book! Very thought provoking ! And very inspiring about depression and Eating disorders etc . … Has helped me already. It’s amazing! – Marny Or, amazon.ca customer
Really enjoyed this book – honest, insightful and funny. – amazon.ca customer
“Binge Crazy leads the reader from misunderstanding to understanding, from feelings of being ‘crazy’ to finding health and well-being and from despair to hope.” — Keris Jän Muyrick, MBA and MS, Leading Mental Health Advocate, Former CEO of Project Return Peer Support Network
“Crack the cover of Binge Crazy to discover that there is more than autobiography, here … Binge Crazy is highly recommended for any who struggle with obesity or addiction, and offers concrete ideas for a problem that many similar books can only document. Its blend of autobiography and insights wraps all this in a cloak of personal experience that invites both binge eaters and their loved ones to read, relate, and understand the confusion surrounding losing weight, self-image, and family interactions.” — D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review