Purge: Rehab Diaries Is Painful But Powerful

I've been doing a fair amount of reading lately, with most of my book selections falling under the umbrella of young adult literature, often with a fairy tale-like element. My most recent choice, Purge: Rehab Diaries, certainly doesn't delve into fantastical realms, nor would it likely be classified as Young Adult, though it might well be of value to many teenagers who are struggling with eating disorders. In this frank memoir, Nicole Johns chronicles her experience at a treatment facility where she spent three months during the summer of 2004.

Purge doesn't shy away from the grittiness of a battle with an eating disorder; there are graphic descriptions of the physical and emotional effects, both from her direct experience and her observations of the young women who became her friends during her stay. Augmenting her own recollections are documents from the facility with matter-of-fact statements about her condition and treatment, but it's her own voice that is so compelling. Sometimes sarcastic, sometimes despairing, sometimes warmly basking in those things that make her battle to beat her disease worth it, she writes with wit, honesty and a beauty that cuts through the brutality.

Johns, who was a graduate student at the time, checked into rehab with an Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, which includes symptoms of both anorexia and bulimia. Over the course of about 270 pages and 70 chapters, she describes the ins and outs of the treatment facility, the counselors and her fellow residents, while occasionally reaching further back into her past to discuss formative parts of her life. Some were positive, like her wonderful relationship with her Italian grandparents, while others, particularly a painful experience with a college professor, were destructive. Because the chapters are short and Johns' style is so accessible, the book doesn't take long to read; once I started it, I was engrossed enough that I got through it in a single sitting of several hours.

It's interesting to see Johns' perspective evolve over the course of the book as she recalls becoming more comfortable with her body image and less disdainful of the efforts of the staff to keep her eating behavior in check. Even during the depths of her own struggle, her compassion for others in similar condition is evident, and one of the most powerful portions of the book deals with her trying to encourage a fellow rehab resident after they leave the program and find it difficult to resist relapsing into old habits.

Purge: Rehab Diaries is a harsh memoir, but Johns herself is a testament to the value of hope and perseverance. She notes in the prologue that the urges that accompany most eating disorders may not ever dissipate entirely, but reading about her determined efforts to reclaim her life is a step in the right direction for the many who are currently floundering.