Anorexia. A Real Story of the Struggle with the Disease

Maria Astakhova — a Russian actress of theater and cinema, a graduate of the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute with a diagnosed eating disorder (ED). Over the years of living with the diagnosis, Maria has learned to find a fragile balance between a severe illness and a happy life, which requires courage, honesty, and daily inner work. In her candid book «Anorexia. A Real Story of the Struggle with the Disease», the talented actress, accustomed to living under the spotlight and being in everyone's view, invites the reader into the most intimate — behind the scenes of her own body and consciousness. Without embellishments, but with immense literary sensitivity, she traces the frightening trajectory of decline: from the first alarming signals in childhood to the critical mark on the scales that threatens life. You will witness how slenderness turns into obsession, and food — into an enemy. Together with the heroine, you will experience the first hospitalization, humiliating helplessness, the coldness of loneliness among people, and the painful rupture with loved ones. This book — an honest account of how illness becomes the leading role in life, overshadowing relationships, career, and the very personality. «This book has a happy ending. The story, told honestly and without embellishments about the severity of the disease, gives readers hope that all these difficulties can be overcome. May this thought never leave you!»