Eating Elephants

The following novella is a fictional case study of Jethro Jones, a young male who suffers
from three pathologies including Binge Eating Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, and Panic
Disorder. It traces the development of his suffering from infancy through childhood trauma into
adolescent manifestations such as severe panic attacks, a suicide attempt, and weekly episodes of
binge eating. The creative nature of the piece was inspired by works such as The Bell Jar (Plath)
and Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia (Hornbacher). The character and story were
informed by peer-reviewed studies about the aforementioned pathologies including risk factors,
manifestation and course, subtypes, and treatments. While research exists on all three of these
topics separately, little of the literature exists on the comorbid presentation of these disorders,
despite its common occurrence. Thus, this is what the novella attempts to tackle.