Eating disorders have been stereotyped as a ‘young person’s challenge’. As a result, eating disorders in middle-aged, and older individuals can easily go undiagnosed and even unnoticed.
When you consider the factors that can go into the emergence of an eating disorder, it’s no wonder that increasing numbers of people (of any age) are being recognized to have one or multiple eating disorders.
The group affected by eating disorders has expanded to affect even more individuals in midlife and beyond. Why is this?
Even though an eating disorder may not be recognized or diagnosed until later in life, the disorder is often developed while a person is still very young, often before age 18.
Forty, thirty, and even twenty years ago, there was much greater social stigma surrounding eating disorders, and many individuals hesitated to reach out for help. This has resulted in some individuals, especially women, seeing their eating disorder as almost a ‘personality characteristic’, as many define themselves by the eating disorder.
It’s not uncommon for psychologists specializing in eating disorders to see clients in their 50s, 60s, and 70s coming forward with disordered eating behavior. Sufferers seeking help are most commonly women, but not always - men suffer from eating disorders too.
If you think you or someone you love might be suffering from an eating disorder, what can you do?
Reach out for help from a mental health therapist who specializes in eating disorders. Some older individuals hold back because they’ve been told that therapy doesn’t really work, it’s ‘pyscho-babble’, or that it’s for ‘weak’ people who ‘just want to talk about their feelings’.
This is simply not true, and there is much data to back this up. A therapist who specializes in eating disorders has focused experience and training working with different therapy modalities that are proven to improve everyday life for sufferers of eating disorders, regardless of age.
You don’t need to suffer or try to figure this out alone. Reach out for help today from one of our gentle, supportive therapists at Inside Wellness, Utah. Schedule a call with our caring intake coordinator by simply Clicking This Link