Living With Food: The Science Supporting Eating Disorder Treatment

As more information appears in the media on eating disorders and how to get help, an increasing number of individuals, often women over age 30, have begun to present for eating disorder treatment. It is believed that there are a significant number of people over age 30 who still suffer from these disorders, and the typical stereotype of eating disorders as an illness of teenagers or young adults is not an accurate representation. There are two likely causes of this shift. One is that people are developing eating disorders later in life. While possible, the more likely reason for the presentation of eating disorders in those over 30 is that they have been ill for a significant amount of time, were unable to access effective treatment when younger, and are now presenting for care with hope that more effective treatment is now available.

 

While we do know that eating disorders can potentially present at any age, most people who have eating disorders, or who are recovered from an eating disorder, tend to date the beginning of the disorder to their teens. For most women over 30 who are presenting for treatment there is a description of an illness that has existed for years, and effective treatment for eating disorders has been available for a relatively short amount of time. If you have had treatment in the past and have not been helped that does not mean there is no help for you now. Over the last ten years, not only have new treatments been developed, but there has been a growing acceptance that evidence based care is the preferable method of treatment, just as it is with medical illness.

 

Many of the patients that we see who are over 30 have had some treatment in the past. While this treatment may have been satisfying in some ways, it may not have been successful in treating the eating disorder in a way that leads to and keeps a person in recovery. For this group of patients, as well as for those who have never had care, there is tremendous opportunity to get over these serious and life-threatening disorders. Since we know that in general the longer you have been sick the harder it is to get better, we are aware for those who are older that treatment may be harder. When you factor in relationships, work, children, and other responsibilities that come with maturity, it can also make treatment more complex. But waiting does not help. And given the way that an eating disorder can destroy your body and your happiness, please get help for your disorder.

 

Contributions by Sarah Emerman