A Man Devoured by His Body, Food & Work: Survival from Muscle Dysmorphia, Orthorexia, and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

by Stuart McRobert

$18.95

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Author: Stuart McRobert

Publisher: CS Publishing Ltd

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 9963616178
ISBN 13: 978-9963616176

Do you have body-image struggles?

Are you sometimes driven mad by perfectionism?

Do you have problems with any of your eating behaviors?

Do you try to escape from your problems by overworking?

Are you sometimes so stressed out that you feel you're about to explode?

Do you often feel that nothing in your life is ever good enough?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you're not alone. Those problems torment countless millions of people.

Want to read a real-life account of success over adversity that could start you on a journey to your own mental-health success story?

If you do, read on . . .

IMAGINE . . . having a dream life of family, material affluence, meaningful work, and autonomy, but being miserable and suicidal.

The person with that dream life was me, Stuart McRobert. I have a story to tell only because I survived my mental torment, recognized I had a serious problem, sought help, and turned my life around.

For 40-plus years I battled with attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that are commonly labeled as symptoms of three psychological disorders: muscle dysmorphia, orthorexia, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). The consequences were grave.

Mental health seems to be the most important determinant of individual happiness in developed countries.

How this book can help you

This book explains my struggles and self-inquiry, and then describes the five elements of my psychological healing. Each element helped me, but their synergism profoundly improved my mental health, my relationships, my physical health, and my overall life.

If you struggle with your body-image and/or eating behaviors, or if perfectionism and/or workaholism affect you, my journey may especially resonate with you. Those issues are common among bodybuilders and other exercise enthusiasts, but they are also common among countless other people.

In response to their psychological struggles, many millions of people seek comfort in smoking, alcohol, overeating, overworking, or other addictive behaviors. Sooner or later, though, those comforting behaviors produce additional difficulties. But singling out those behaviors as the problems misses the root causes in each individual, which need to be dealt with in order for healing to take place.

My story explains how I dealt with the root causes of my mental torment.

You have travelled a unique path with a particular background I can never know, but perhaps reading my success story may inspire you to start your own self-inquiry that leads to your own success story.

This book does not have any instruction on bodybuilding or how to train.

Review

I have never read a book so revealing and yet also so hopeful. It is truly groundbreaking.

Stuart McRobert has been a very productive writer on physical training for over 35 years. So it is to his great credit that his latest book may be his most important even though it is not about the ins and outs of physical training. If you are looking only for another training book, this one is not for you. But if your concerns are broader, and include quality of life and mental health regardless of whether or not you train, Stuart's latest book is a must-read.

With startling and riveting details, Stuart chronicles the three major mental disorders that afflicted his life for over 45 years. The disorders produced sustained major struggles that included periods of extreme unhappiness and despair. His account of his problems is fascinating. But more important, and yet also fascinating, is what Stuart did about his problems, which he also describes in detail.

With the help of a counselor, and logical integrations of other ways to improve mental health, Stuart immersed himself in intensive therapy but without any medication. There were five elements to his therapy and healing. The outcome was that he did not simply change bits of his behavior. Rather, he transformed his entire life for the better, including his relationship with himself, and his relationships with others.

Even for people who do not have any of the kinds of problems Stuart dealt with, this book presents a remarkable story. But for those people who do have some aspects of Stuart's problems, the book presents hope and some logical roads to follow in seeking help and guidance, and charting new and improved pathways in life.

-- Richard A. Winett, Ph.D., Master Trainer

From the Author

"Stuart, after having written your newest book, are you still passionate about bodybuilding and strength training like you are in your other books?"

Of course! When applied as I teach it through my other books, bodybuilding training--and strength training in general--is the single best form of exercise because it produces a host of major internal and external benefits.

Now that my mental health is much improved, my physical health has also improved. I enjoy my training even more now than I used to before, and I may also be getting even more benefits from my workouts now.

But please remember that this book isn't targeted only at bodybuilders and other exercise enthusiasts. While the sorts of problems I struggled with are common among bodybuilders and other exercise enthusiasts, they are also common among countless other people. But how the problems manifest themselves varies from person to person.

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