What it's like to be middle-aged and have an eating disorder

Eating disorders are generally associated with teenage girls and those in their early 20s. However, they are not unique to this age group; women also experience eating disorders in midlife.  

“It’s not so much that women are developing an eating disorder in middle age, it’s more the case that midlife women with an eating disorder likely have a long history of having, at the very least, disordered eating, or more commonly, a long-standing eating disorder going back to adolescence. But with 5% of middle-aged women experiencing this, it is what we consider fairly common,” says Dr Art Malone, consultant psychiatrist with the HSE Adult Eating Disorder Service at St Vincent’s University Hospital.

In midlife, women can face specific life transitions that can trigger or amplify eating disorders, explains Harriet Parsons, psychotherapist and training and development manager with Bodywhys, the Eating Disorders Association of Ireland.

“Their role in the family may be changing with children growing up and leaving home, they may be facing retirement, or a change in their relationship, whether that’s divorce or bereavement, and of course, at this age in people’s lives they will naturally encounter bereavement more frequently — parents, older siblings or partners.” 

Another key life event at this time in a woman’s life is menopause, which typically starts with perimenopause between the ages of 45 and 55. 

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